


All Of The Stars

by CliffordAffliction



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Ashton and Luke are best friends, Calum and Michael are best friends, Calum and Michael used to bully Ashton, M/M, Muke - Freeform, Muke Clemmings, Smut, anyways umm cute cuddles, calum is an asshole, dont ask what my obsession is with California, idk what else, ummm they live in California
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:53:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4294887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CliffordAffliction/pseuds/CliffordAffliction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael and Calum are best friends who aren't always so nice to Ashton. After Luke moves into their town he befriends Ashton then develops a crush on Michael and everything begins to change</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before I wrote All I Ever Needed Was You so I hope you enjoy it :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys love this! I worked a really long time on it but it was so worth it.

It had been a week since Luke had gotten the worst sunburn of his life, 4 days since he’d played a video game, and two weeks since he’d seen even a droplet of rain. Things were changing for him ever since he moved to California and he didn’t mind it. He couldn’t even complain about the sunburn because now he had a killer tan and actually looked like he fit in there with his light blonde hair to match it. A week after moving there he had met a kid named Ashton. Him and Luke was outside constantly because Ashton loved the beach and if they weren’t at the beach they were running the streets or riding on their penny boards down by the boardwalk. Sure Luke missed Washington but it was mostly his brother Jack that he missed and he knew that even moving back to Washington wouldn’t bring him back

“How many seeds do you think is in this piece of watermelon?” Ashton and Luke were sitting outside of the café they had just walked out of, Luke was focused on eating his ice cream and Ashton was way too into studying his watermelon.

“A million” Luke smiled as he stirred the spoon around his cup and he could feel Ashton rolling his eyes at him

“Oh by the way there’s a bonfire at the beach tonight and we’re going”

“Do I get a choice in this?” Luke said chuckling as he took a bite

“Of course not. C’mon it will be fun”

“Okay but only if you promise to change your shirt” Ashton eyes got wide and he was greatly offended as he gawked down at his Hawaiian looking button down shirt

“This is vintage. It’s totally in right now” he said grabbing a hold of it

“It’s hideous” Luke remarked, trying to contain his laughter. Ashton dramatically got up from his chair

“Fine. You can walk home bitches”

“Nice movie reference but I’m the only one here. The correct wording would be ‘fine you can walk home bitch’” and he watched as Ashton was actually walking across the road towards the beach. Luke chucked his ice cream in the garbage then ran after him, jumping on his back as he got closer

“Ahh! Fuck Luke!”

“Your shirt is beautiful Ash. I was just jealous” he said in a girly tone as he got off Ashton’s back

“I’m not changing it, Luke”

“Okay okay” Luke resorted back with a grin “I’ll still come even though I’ll be embarrassed to be seen with you” and they both couldn’t help bursting out laughing as Ash put him in a headlock and they went running towards the water.  
“Luke where the hell are you?” Ashton shouted making sure Luke could hear him over the crowd of people around him

“I’ll be there soon” Luke huffed as he shuffled through his drawer looking the shirt he wanted to wear

“I’m coming to get you I’ll be there in 3”

“Ash I said I was-“then Luke realized it had gone silent on the other end of the phone. He finally found his Green Day shirt and slipped it on feeling a bit chilly as a breeze flew in his window and he decided to run down stairs to get a water before he left and then he heard the front door opening

“Lukey boy!” Ashton yelled in a singing tone “Get your shit together we’re leaving”. Luke rounded the corner and met Ash by the door

“This better be one kick ass bonfire. I’m missing my favorite TV show”

“You nerd. Did you ever leave the house before I came around?”

“Alright let’s just go already, Jesus”. Ashton kicked the back of Luke’s leg as he closed the door behind him and they made their way towards the beach. Luke felt a bit overwhelmed as they approached it. There had to be at least 200 people there and he watched as 3 half naked girls ran into the water. Tonight there was music blasting through the air and the waves were quite big under the full moon

“I love nights like these” Ashton said almost too quiet for Luke to hear and he nodded in agreement. They began to walk over to some guy who was waving down Ashton and Luke looked around nervously. He was never too confident around big groups of people, especially since the only person he knew was Ashton.

“You guys want a beer?” the short boy asked and Ashton smiled and took the two beers in the boys hand, giving one to Luke. Luke opened it and took a few swallows thinking that if he had some alcohol in him maybe he would relax a bit and right when he was about to finish it off someone bumped into him and he spilled it all down his shirt. He whipped his head around to see a pale guy that was around his same height. Luke was pretty tall so it was rare to see someone as tall as him. The guy didn’t even notice that he nearly bumped Luke over and he watched the kid as he joined a circle of girls and they all began smiling

“Michael Clifford” Luke turned to look at Ashton

“What?”

“His name is Michael Clifford” Ashton said a bit louder “Ignore him. He’s just your typical asshole” Luke glanced over at Michael again and this time Michael caught Luke looking at him so he quickly looked away. Ashton grabbed the empty can out of Luke’s hand and handed him another one with a smile on his face. Luke shrugged and took it, once again taking a few big swigs of it. Then next thing he knew he was looking over at Michael again. He was wearing black skinny jeans, a black shirt with a jean jacket over it and a black snapback that was on backwards, his light colored hair sticking out from under it. Luke didn’t even know why he was still staring at him but he just watched as Michael talked to some new guy that appeared next to him and Luke flinched for some reason when Michael smiled wide showing his teeth and that’s when he looked up to see the eyebrow piercing he had “Luke!” Luke focused on Ashton and he could tell by the tone in his voice that he had said Luke’s name several times before “I said what’s so interesting over there?” and Ashton was slightly laughing at him now

“Oh um nothing” He stuttered a bit and right then people started crowding towards them in the direction of the bonfire “What’s going on?”

“Can’t have a fire without some songs right?” Ashton said urging Luke to follow him. They both sat down in the sand with their knees up and watched as some hippy looking guy held a guitar and kept laughing with the people around him

“Any song requests?” he yelled and Luke smiled, he was clearly a bit drunk

“Sing My Heart Will Go On!” some kid shouted

“Shut up Murphy” as he pointed a finger at him and there was an echo of laughs around the circle. He started stringing a song that Luke wasn’t familiar with but he loved the sound of it and he remembered when he used to play guitar. Jack had taught him when he was 10 but he hadn’t played in about a year or so. Then something made Luke turn his head from the circle and off in the distance was Michael and some kid with tattoos. They were leaning against the cement block that separated the beach from the road and Luke watched Michael as he took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke upwards. Luke didn’t know why he kept wanting to look at this kid but whenever he did he couldn’t take his eyes off him. Even when Michael had bumped into Luke he had this shock go through his body before he even seen him. Michael took off his hat for a brief second just to ruffle his hair then he seen the other boy elbow his arm and with that Michael was looking straight at Luke. Luke felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest then after he snapped back into it he realized he had been staring for way too long and he whipped his head away.

“Fuck” he said under his breath, this had been the 2nd time Michael had caught him staring and Luke felt like a complete idiot.

“What?” Ashton said beside him clearly seeing Luke was beating himself up about something.

“Nothing”

“Well you’ve been acting like nothing has been going on all night. Tell me what’s up Luke”

“Can you just not right now?” he was talking about Ashton always wanting to pry just to get under Luke’s skin.

“What you got your eye on some hot girl?” Ashton said grinning. 

“Well I mean it’s not…”

“Aha! I knew it”

“Ash” Luke whined not wanting him to make a scene

“So which one is she?” he said frantically looking around the circle “Oh it's that brunette over there isn’t it? Good eye Luke good eye”

“Ashton stop I’m serious”

“I can go introduce you to her if you want me to”

“No. just no please don’t”

“Well then who is it?” Luke let out a breath and turned to look at Ashton finally. He was almost about to just tell Ashton who he had been starting at all night but he just couldn’t. Ashton had called him an asshole earlier in the night so that meant he wasn’t exactly a fan of Michael. 

“Just forget it” Luke mumbled

“Its fine. I’ll find out eventually” he said in a cocky tone “I always do”

  
It was 3am and the temperature was still at 70 degrees as Luke and Ashton stumbled back to Ashton’s house. Ashton was more than drunk and Luke was just a bit buzzed but accepted the responsibility of making sure Ashton didn’t walk into the street as they made the 5 block journey home. Luke kept looking up to the sky searching for even a single star but he didn’t find any. The city lights were too bright to see the stars which for some reason made him feel sad.

“BOO!” Ashton shouted, jumping out back onto the sidewalk after telling Luke he was taking a piss behind a building. He nearly fell over in the process. Luke got in his face and tried not to laugh but failed a few times before he finally got a straight face

“Do you know what we should do tomorrow?” Luke was now walking backwards as Ashton followed “We should..we should go up to that cliff you were mentioning”

“No way man. It’s a 2 hour drive”

“Oh come on. What else do you we got to do?”

“Why do you want to go so bad anyways?”

“Cause..You can said you can see the stars from there”

“You’re such a sap” Ashton said slurring his words and pointing a finger in his face “aye Luke watch-“ right then Luke’s back hit something solid and he turned around to see the tattooed kid that Michael had been with before.

“umm I-I’m sorry” Luke said looking down but he could tell the boy was glaring at him so he quickly stepped around him and looked back to see Ashton standing dead in his tracks “Ash?” Luke had never seen him look so nervous

“You know” Luke started to shake a bit when the guy spoke “If I remember right Ashton..I owe you an ass kicking” Luke looked at Ashton for answers

“I don’t-I don’t know what you’re talking about Calum” He went to walk around the guy like Luke had but Calum put a hand on his chest and pushed him back a bit. The contact made Luke even more nervous and he stepped back a little more

“Oh I think you do. Did you think I would forget what you did to my girlfriend?” This time Ashton got a brave look on his face

“I didn’t do anything to her. We were just talking” Calum did this smart ass chuckle and Luke could already tell he didn’t like this kid

“Well that’s not what I heard” Luke nearly jumped out of his skin when Calum took Ashton by his shirt and threw him to the ground and the next thing Luke knew, Calum was on top of Ashton throwing the first punch. Luke just stood there in utter shock and it was like someone from the outside was leading his body as he leaned down and pushed Calum off of Ashton and onto the cold sidewalk. The look on Ashtons face was absolute fear and the look on Calums made Luke realize why he was so scared. Calum jumped up and instantly got in Luke’s face as he seen a blur of Ashton getting up behind him

“Calum..come on man”. Luke felt like he couldn’t breathe as Calum stared him down and grabbed ahold of his shirt

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing pretty boy? I oughta fucking kill you”. Luke watched almost as if it was in slow motion as Calum brought his hand into a fist and began to raise it and Luke closed his eyes preparing for the worst

“Calum!” Luke kept his eyes shut and lowered his head down to the ground then the fact that Ashton’s voice wasn’t the one that said that occurred to him and his eyes shot open “Lets go” the stern voice said and Luke looked to the right to see Michael. Michael had quite literally saved his life and he was standing with his hands in his jeans pockets. Calum flexed his jaw and looked at Luke

“You better pray I don’t see you again blondie”. Ashton stepped in front of Luke and Luke wondered where this bravery was about a minute ago

“Shut up” Michael said lighting the cigarette in his mouth “Get in the car”. Luke could see Calum eyeing him but all he was focusing on was Michael, wanting him to just look at him. Sure Michael had completely just stuck up for him but he realized he needed some sort of reassurance that Michael was doing it to protect Luke from a beating and not just because he wanted to leave. The wind picked up a bit and Ashton began to push Luke backwards saying something like “Luke come on bro” and that’s when Michael finally locked eyes with Luke. With him being only a few feet from Luke he could tell what color his eyes were now, they were a grayish green but this time Luke didn’t look away. Michael still continued to look at him, then he shot his eyes over to the right and he went around the front of the car without taking another look at Luke. Without the heavy weight of Michael's eyes on him Luke felt like he could breathe again but he also missed that feeling and was a bit confused on why this kid affected him so much. Ashton turned around and watched them drive away then focused back on Luke

“You alright? I really appreciate you trying to defend me and all but that’s Calum Hood. Hes wicked man. I actually really hope you never run into him again cause it will not be pretty” Luke swallowed hard but was still looking in the place that Michael was standing a few seconds before “Please say something”

“I'm fine ” He turned around and began walking. He didn’t dare tell Ashton this but it was the whole Michael thing that was getting to him and it had nothing to do with how Calum basically wanted him dead. It was Michael's deadly stare but the soft look in his eyes as he looked to the right, It was Michael's rough voice, the way it sounded slightly muffled as he held the cigarette between his teeth and the way he walked over to the drivers side of the car with such confidence. Those were the things that left Luke speechless and unable to think of anything but Michael Clifford.

They got to the part of the street where going right would lead to Luke's house and going left would lead to Ashton's and Luke chose to go right making Ashton take a double look

“Luke I’m sorry about what happened” he shouted and Luke froze. He in no way wanted Ash to think he was mad at him because it was nothing close to that. He was more upset with himself for getting so caught up in this Michael kid. Luke faced Ashton

“Don’t worry about it Ash. I’ve got your back anytime of the week” and he turned around with a smile. 


	2. Chapter 2

The sunlight was creeping in through the blinds and Luke already felt like he was roasting to death as he opened his eyes. A headache appeared as soon as he stood up and he made an annoyed sound as he made his way to the shower. He made sure to turn it on all the way cold before he stepped in and for some reason he was so overheated that the ice cold water felt good. Luke made the shower quick then got out wrapping a towel around his waist attempted to ruffle his hair back to get that quiff look before it dried and slipped on a pair of neon orange board shorts that made him look even more tan than usual

“Luke” his mother startled him a bit as she appeared in his doorway “They’re making me work late tonight so I wont be home til at least midnight” She stood there in her scrubs waiting for him to respond

“Okay mom”

“And when you leave please make sure to lock the door this time” he nodded and made a “mhm” sound as he messed with something on his dresser and he heard the sound of her shoes as she walked down the wooden floored hallway and Luke got a smirk on his face before grabbing his phone

“What?” A sleepy voice said on the other end

“Hey! How are you?” Luke made sure to sound extra loud knowing that Ashton was surely hung over

“I’d be a hell of a lot better if I was still sleeping and if you weren’t yelling into the fucking phone”

“Stay hydrated” Luke said with a chuckle

“You should really go get me some pain killers”

“Are you sure I should leave the house on my own? What if _Calum_ gets me” Luke said making himself sound scared like a little girl

“You shouldn’t joke about that. You did a real stupid thing last night” and the smile on Luke's face faded at how serious Ashton was sounding “But he really only walks around town at night anyways”

“Jesus. I didn’t know that we were dealing with a vampire. Now you’ve got me scared to death”

“You know..you think I’m joking but I’m really not Luke. That thing about his girlfriend that he was giving me shit about, that happened over 5 months ago. This kid doesn’t let things go and you literally put your hands on him..” Luke got thinking about last night but his thoughts wondered to Michael instead of Calum and he couldn’t get the way Michael looked at him out of his mind “Luke!”

“What?’

“Did you hear me?”

“I’m in deep shit yeah I get it. Listen I've got some pain killers and I’ll just bring them over to you. Be there in 5”

  
When Luke walked into Ashton's house he nearly tripped over the millions of pairs of shoes laying in front of the door and was greeted by the smell of pancakes. He looked up to see Ashton’s siblings, Harry and Lauren, chowing down on them at the counter

“Hey guys. Smells good” Harry gave him a short wave and went back to eating but Lauren sat up straight and quickly swallowed her food

“Hi luke! You can have some if you want”. Luke shot her a quick smile. 

“Maybe later. Thanks though” and he was making his way upstairs “Why cant you be more like your siblings? I got offered pancakes down there” Luke said entering Ashton’s mess of a room. 

“The pills?” Ashton was curled up under his blankets looking just as miserable as he sounded over the phone so Luke tossed him the pill bottle and Ashton instantly looked at it “These are for children Luke. I’ll have to take the whole damn bottle for them to even be effective” Luke let out a breath and sat down in the bean bag

“I just traveled miles upon miles to deliver that medicine to you. You should be kissing my feet right now”. Ashton let out a loud giggle and layed back against his headboard

“You know I bet even Balto would of gotten me the right medicine. Balto wouldn’t of let me down like this”

“Well Balto is dead. Now let me hear that ‘thank you’ I know its in there somewhere” Luke said dramatically putting his hands behind his ears

“Thank you Lukey I love them” he tossed three of them in his mouth and sprung out of bed “Wow I feel better already. These pain killers are outstanding” Luke shook his head trying to hide his smile

“Alright alright quit being a smart ass and lets go somewhere”.

“I feel like a new man after taking those pills you know?” Ashton said sticking his head out of the bathroom “ I feel like I could conquer the world!”

“I am going to kick your ass if you don’t shut up” Luke said not even being able to stop his laughter. After Ashton got out of the shower and got himself together they both raced each other down the stairs and Luke just barely beat him to the front door

“Stay out of trouble you hooligans!” Ashton shouted back to Harry and Lauren before closing the front door behind him  
Luke was convinced that in California every day was even hotter than the rest and today made him stick with this theory even more. As they were walking by the beach there wasn’t a single person that wasn’t in the water and he quickly jumped back onto the sidewalk after feeling the hot sand burn his feet

“Why don’t you ever wear shoes?”

“They constrict my feet. Its uncomfortable”

“You are a strange little man” Ashton said crossing the road without warning “Lets go to the arcade”

“Why?” Luke resorted back making a grossed out face

“Because its air conditioned and their pizza is to die for” Luke really couldn’t argue with either one of those statements so he followed Ashton along the busy street and he really wished Ashton wouldn’t walk so fast. He was already sweating to death without the extra strain on his legs and he was thankful when Ashton opened the door to some building decorated with a bunch of pictures of a frog and green neon. As soon as they stepped inside the smell of dirty socks and fast food overwhelmed him and he was reminded of why he never set foot in one of these places since he was 10

“Ugh it smells like shit and I feel like a pedophile Ash, we are literally the only people here over 4 foot “. Ashton shh’d him then was walking over to one of the machines that gave you coins

“I just want to see if you can beat me at this racing game. No one ever can and I need a serious confidence boost after Calum stole all of it from me last night” he said in a serious tone as he handed Luke two coins

“Great” Luke mumbled “Cause I just love to lose”

“Oh that’s good. cause you’re going to ” Ashton said smirking back at him. Luke glanced around at all the screaming kids and would occasionally hold his breath when the smell became too much. “Sit here” Ashton said. Luke did so and got comfortable as he put his foot by the gas and gripped the steering wheel and realized that this might actually be fun as he started to look at the different kinds of tracks

“Do the snow one”

“Nope. Way to easy”. Luke watched Ashton’s screen as he picked the desert one and tapped the steering wheel a few times “You ready”

“I thinks so “ they both focused on their screens as the countdown started. Luke hit the gas pedal hard when it got to 1 and thought at first that this would be a piece of cake. He realized he was wrong when he came to a sharp turn he wasn’t expecting and went tumbling off the track

“Already struggling on the first turn huh?’ Luke tried to focus on his own screen instead of watching how good Ashton was driving and he finally ended up getting in 3rd place by the last lap but knew it was too late to able to catch up as he seen the starting line “Ashton Irwin remains the champion!” he said taking his hands off the wheel and doing a silly dance after getting up

“You’re a real sore winner you know that?” Ashton hit him on the back and lead him away from the game

“I know. Let me treat you to some pizza” and Luke perked right up after that. Luckily Ashton let him pick out the toppings so he picked out his favorites: Ham and bacon. They both ate their first slices in silence and it seemed as if they hadn’t eaten in days with how fast they ate them. Luke wiped his mouth then took a big gulp of his soda and decided to ask a few questions about Michael hoping Ashton would know something about him.

“So umm is Michael a vampire too?” Ashton scrunched up his face as he leaned over to take a drink of his soda without picking it off of the table so Luke decided to rephrase the question “I mean does Michael only come out at night?”

“I actually have no clue Luke. I barely know anything about Michael”

“Wait what? But last night you said he was an asshole. I just kinda figured you knew him if you could say that about him”

“Well I’m just basing that theory off of the fact that hes friends with Calum. I mean everyone who has ever been friends with him is a total piece of shit” Luke took another bite and shrugged a bit

“He can’t be that bad. He did save me from a beating and all”

“That was pure luck. He just happened to be walking out at the right time. I really wouldn’t think anything of it”

“So is he new around here?” Luke didn’t want to pry like this but he just needed to know something about him. Anything.

“Jesus, Luke why are you so curious?” He said slightly laughing with his mouth full “ The kid bumped into you and didn’t apologize then he got his friend to leave with him right before he was about to beat your ass. Big deal”

“I don’t know why you cant just answer a simple question” Luke said giving just as much sass as Ashton was. Ashton took a deep breath and Luke could tell he was about to start talking fast

“Okay. He moved here in 6th grade. The only reason I know that is because him and Calum gave me a swirly in 6th grade. He has beautiful girls falling at his feet but never wants anything to do with them. He used to work at the pizza place down the road from my house but doesn’t anymore I guess cause I never see him in there. I don’t know his favorite color but I do know that he drives a black car as you might have seen last night. You satisfied?” Luke blinked a few times and didn’t know what part he wanted to question first  
“He really gave you a swirly?”

“Calum did. Michael watched from a close distance” He sat there thinking it through and it wasn’t as much as he’d hoped but he still smiled at how Ash said he had no interest in all the beautiful girls giving him attention which made Luke think that maybe he wasn’t into girls at all and god Luke hoped he was right. Luke had been open about his sexuality for quite some time but felt a little guilty suddenly when he realized he hadn’t exactly made that clear to Ashton yet. Not like Ashton would care, at least he didn’t think he would, but he still felt like he had a right to know but then Luke got sidetracked when he started thinking about how good Michael looked that night and how attractive that eyebrow ring looked on him. Luke had to admit that he usually wasn’t into punk looking guys but there was literally not a single thing he didn’t like about Michael.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a week since Luke had seen Michael. All he had to hold dear to him was Michael’s voice (Which he could remember perfectly) and those couple seconds where he had his full attention. Luke was beginning to realize that the longer it had been since he seen Michael the worse off he got. He wasn’t sure If it was possible to miss someone he barely knew but all Luke did know was that he wanted to see him again and hopefully actually talk to him this time which he realized was probably easier said than done considering that for one Michael clearly didn’t get out much and two just having Michael's eyes on him made him nervous so how would he even begin to know how to talk to him without becoming a complete mess?

“You see that tall brick building? I’m literally right behind it” Ashton spoke softly

“I still don’t see you”

“Harry” Luke laughed to himself at how Ash was trying to be patient with Harry “Go over this way” he said sitting up and pointing on the screen.

“This is game is stupid I’m going outside” Harry said tossing the controller over to Luke thinking he would want to play but to be honest he didn’t want to be stuck in this house any longer even though this whole “staying in and playing video games all day” thing was his idea

“I swear that kids attention span is this big” Ashton said creating an inch length with his two fingers

“Can we go get a smoothie?” Luke said as he was sprawled out on the couch and Ashton was sitting Indian style on the floor. Ashton turned back to him

“I mean you can…I’m just sort of tired”. Luke looked out the window and contemplated how badly he really wanted a smoothie then decided he pretty much needed one right this second.

“Alright” he said shrugging and stretching as he stood up “Do you want anything?” Ashton licked his lips and shut off the game

“Yeah get me a green tea one” Luke couldn’t help but roll his eyes a bit at the fact that Ashton always had to get something healthy when they would get smoothies. He nodded then started walking towards the door

“You wanted a triple chocolate smoothie with extra sugar right?” he shouted back with the door open and Ashton groaned as he looked up at the ceiling

“Luke no I wanted-“

“Okay okay chocolate smoothie it is” he quickly closed the door before Ashton could protest again and made his way down the stairs and onto the sidewalk. Since it was getting later in the day it was starting to cool off and the slight breeze always greeted him with the fresh ocean air and the smell of random fast food places but he loved it. He made his way down the main road then had to go through a few sidestreets and took a shortcut through a couple buildings like Ashton had showed him so he ended up getting to the smoothie place in no time flat. The small Hawaiian looking building was quite busy with it being close to 5 o’clock and Luke squinted his eyes at the menu. Even though he already knew what he wanted he was trying to find the most unhealthy thing to get for Ashton because he wasn’t kidding about that plus if Ashton refused to drink it then that just meant that Luke could have it for himself. “ Yeah I’ll have the peanut butter cup one and….the smore’s smoothie and could I have extra chocolate on that one?” the lady behind the counter smiled a bit then nodded taking Lukes money. She was quite petite and had long brown hair up in a pony tail. Luke couldn’t help but notice that she was very pretty but he tried not to stare too much as he stood off to the side waiting

“Peanut butter cup and smores smoothie” she said smiling again “Have a nice day”

“You too. Thanks” Luke said quickly and then he was fast walking through the crowd of people. He just really wanted to see the look on Ashton’s face when he brought in this extremely sugary smoothie. He’d probably complain a bit then take a sip and end up actually liking it because Luke took a drink of it and he wished he would of gotten the smores one instead of the peanut butter cup. He passed a few people on rollerblades and a few people walking their dogs before he had to go through the first set of shortcuts. Luke slid his arm across the building as he went through the small ally and rounded the corner only to be pushed right back in the wall where he had just came from, dropping both of the smoothies in the process. He looked around frantically then seen a body appearing to the right of him in his peripheral vision and yanked his head to the left. He began to feel his heartbeat in his throat as his eyes widened as he started to slide backwards against the wall

“Blondie!” he shouted it almost as if Luke was a friend of his but then the look on his face darkened and Luke swallowed hard “We meet again huh?” Luke looked down at the spilled smoothies just wanting to focus on anything other than Calums evil stare

“What do you want?”

“You know..no one has ever pushed me like you did that other night. What a brave thing you did for your little whimpy friend Ashton. Very brave but also very stupid” Luke gritted his teeth just wishing Calum would get to the point of kicking his ass instead taunting him. He couldn’t stand hearing Calums voice

“Okay are we done now? Can I go?” Luke used that smart ass tone on purpose just to get Calum to do what he wanted to do so Luke could get it over with and drag himself back to Ashtons house.

“No way man. We’re just getting started” he said grinning and before Luke knew it he was getting knocked to the ground by Calums fist and suddenly all of his weight was resting on Luke's chest and it felt as if his ribs were quite literally breaking under the pressure. Luke began to squirm under him even though there was no escaping and Calum took several more swings at his jaw and eye areas before standing up and kicking Luke hard in the side. Luke groaned out in pain as he rolled over with his face in the cement and all the places Calum had hit him were beating fast with his heartbeat. He looked up at the sky and watched a few clouds move just trying to get his thoughts away from the pain and jumped a bit when Calum cleared his throat letting Luke know he was still there “Its funny cause for some reason Michael told me not to mess with you again” Luke moved his head to Calums direction and somehow his heartbeat began to move even faster at the mention of Michael's name “But hey I figured you deserved a little beating” Luke began to focus on something behind Calum as he thought about what Calum had just said to him. Michael did stop Calum that night because he wanted to protect Luke and he obviously had thought about Luke after that night because he told Calum to leave him alone and Luke all of a sudden felt a whole lot better as he looked back to the ground and then noticed that Calum had left. Luke began to slowly sit up then paused when the pain in his side came back and he slowly laid his back against the building and touched the blood on his lip then began to drift off a bit.

Luke wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep but it must have been a while because the sun was starting to go down and he frantically got out his phone to see he had 5 texts from Ashton asking where he was and 10 missed calls also from Ashton. He typed a “I’ll be there soon” to Ashton then used the wall to push himself up into standing position. Walking turned out to be a lot more difficult than Luke thought because with every step it felt as if someone was stabbing him in his side below his ribs and he took the back streets so no one would be concerned and bother him but then he was forced to take one of the main sidewalks next to the beach as he got closer to Ashtons house and he knew it would take him a million times longer with how slow he was being forced to walk. He looked on into the ocean and listened to the waves trying to relax and thinking about the fact that Michael didn’t want calum to hurt him also gave him a great warmness in this shitty situation. Luke jumped back as a car pulled up next to him and he winced in pain again. He took his hand from the his side to look like he wasn’t in as much pain as he really was then looked as the car was rolling down the passenger window

“Hey!” Luke instantly recognized the voice and gazed down to see Michael wearing a red flannel with a black shirt underneath and luke took a deep breath at how good he looked

“Fuck” he whispered hoping he wouldn’t get too worked up by Michael once again

“Where you heading?” Luke eyes shot back to him but he lowered his head not wanting Michael to see how fucked up his face was

“Ashton’s” and he could see in the corner of his eye that Michael was smiling and there was no way he was missing that. Luke tried not to get too bad of heart eyes as he looked down at Michael resting one hand on the wheel seeming like a complete different person than he had met before. Michael looked ahead of him tapping the wheel

“That’s at least 5 blocks let me give you a ride” and not enough muscles in the world could stop Luke from smiling wide showing his teeth as he nodded and opened the passenger door. He carefully sat down but gritted his teeth as the pain hit him again but he was also holding his breath because he could tell Michael was staring at him. He glanced up just wanting Michael to look him in the eyes not even caring that Michael would see the bruises on his face and Michael's soft look turned into a pained one as his eyes flicked all over Luke's face and Luke watched as Michael's hand raised almost as if he was going to touch Luke's face but then he quickly put it on the steering wheel

“Listen I’m really sorry Calum did that” Luke closed his eyes as Michael's voice almost calmed him and leaned back in his seat looking up at the ceiling

“Yeah…thanks. I’m just upset my smoothie got spilled” Luke said in actually a very serious tone but Michael laughed and Luke's face got all red as he tried not to smile too big and he watched as Michael chewed his lip a little as he face went still

“Well I’m gonna make sure that it doesn’t happen again” Michael met Luke's eyes again and Luke doesn’t think he had ever trusted someone this quickly in his entire life. The look on Michael's face just looked so sincere and Luke’s heart was racing but this time for an entirely different reason  
The rest of the ride was silent but Luke didn’t mind, he just loved being this close to Michael and listening to the way he would let out a breath when a song he didn’t like came on the radio and he would quickly change it or the way he would tap the steering wheel to the same beat as the songs he did like. Luke tried not to move his eyes over to Michael too much but he didn’t know when he would even see him again so he was trying to enjoy it while he could. Luke couldn’t help but be bummed when Michael pulled up beside Ashton's house and then he scoffed a bit when he seen Ash sitting on the front porch on the phone

“Somebody looks a bit worried” Micheal muttered

“Yeah he called me like 10 times but umm thanks” Luke turned to him “you know for the ride and all”. Michael shrugged then rubbed his hand against his jaw

“Its no problem” and Luke wished he would smile at him again but he didn’t so Luke began to open the door and he stepped out already missing being in Michael's car and closed the door but not too fast. He looked up to see Ashton standing there with a look on his face like he hadn’t seen Luke in years “Hey Luke!” Luke was instantly confused on how Michael knew his name but he quickly spun around

“Yeah?”. Michael glanced ahead of him like trying to think of how to say what he wanted to then he smiled and looked back at Luke and he felt his face flush  
“You free tomorrow? I figured I’d buy you back that smoothie”. Luke bit his lip and his face got redder than ever. Of course he would never say no to that in a million years but Michael didn’t know that so he looked up and began nodding

“Sure. Yeah that’d be great” but then Luke cursed at how excited and desperate he sounded

“Gimmie your phone” Luke quickly obeyed then watched as Michael typed on it “Is 6 okay?” he said handing the phone back

“Mhm. Yeah that sounds good”

“Alright. I’ll see ya” Michael sort of laughed then Luke realized he could have been walking away instead of still continuing to stare at Michael and then he smiled and walked away hearing Michael pull away but he couldn’t help but stare down at Michael's phone number before he looked up and Ashton was leaning against the front door with this arms crossed and tapping his foot like a worried mother upset with her son for getting home late and he quickly ran up to Luke when he got close enough to see his face

“Fucking hell where have you been? Calum did this didn’t he? I swear to god I'm going to fucking kill him. Come inside” Luke rolled his eyes and followed Ash in then he made Luke sit on the stool “Luke….how-how are you smiling right now? you look like you’ve been through hell and back”

“Did you see who drove me home?”

“Well no. Who was it?” he said, clearly still confused and upset

“It was Michael”

“Michael?” Ashton rose his eyebrows “No he didn’t seriously who was it”

“That’s who it was!” Luke said laughing “and then he asked if I wanted to hang out tomorrow”

“That’s cool and all but you’re not going”

“Okay mom and whys that?” Ashton pointed a finger at Luke for mocking him

“Cause you’re not. Michael is probably just having you hang out with him so Calum can give you another beating”

“Wow” Luke scoffed getting off the stool and heading towards the living room “You are fucking ridiculous. Do you know what Calum said to me afterwards?” Ashton shook his head and changed the look on his face into a softer one “He said ‘Its funny cause for some reason Michael told me not to mess with you again’. You were right when you said you barely know Michael cause he’s not like Calum at all I can tell you that right now” Ashton flicked his eyes over Luke a few times and he just watched as Luke went to go sit down in front of the TV then his eyes widened a bit

“Luke, why do you care so much about Michael?” Ashton’s tone had calmed down and he was speaking more quiet this time. Luke ran his hands over his face and tried to prepare himself to tell Ashton something that he hadn’t really even admitted to himself yet.

“Because I like him Ash. I really like him. Ever since I seen him that night at the bonfire I couldn’t get him out of my head” Luke waited for Ashton to say something but he just continued to look Luke down like he was a stranger

“But you’re…you know. I mean I didn’t know you were. You could of told me Luke”

“Gay. You can say it” Luke laughed and tried to bring up the mood a bit “I just didn’t know how to tell you I guess but I just want you to know that Michael is different. He really is”

“Okay. If you trust him then I guess so do I”


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Luke was a complete mess. As soon as he woke up he was counting down the hours until he was supposed to be picked up by Michael but as the time came closer he was wishing he had more time merely because he couldn’t decide on what to wear. He felt a little pathetic after he changed his outfit for the 4th time and finally settled on a light blue button down shirt and light colored jeans with his white Vans. Blue clothing always made Luke's eyes look extra blue and it also happened to be the color he wore most. Last night Luke had decided to go back to his house mainly because he didn’t want Ashton embarrassing him or being a total dick to Michael so he texted his address to Michael last night and unfortunately he only responded with a “Alright I’ll see ya then”. Luke was realizing that maybe Michael wasn’t that big of talker but he was okay with that. He just loved being in Michael's presence and loved that he even wanted to hang out with him. Luke was standing in front of the mirror fixing his hair when he phone rang. He jumped over to the bed and picked it up too fast thinking it was Michael

“So when’s the date?” Luke gritted his teeth a bit

“It is not a date. Its uh…a hangout”

“He’s picking you up and you guys are getting smoothies. It’s a date Luke”

“Don’t you have something else to do?”. Luke looked at the clock on the wall then out the window since it was 10 minutes after 6

“Hmm” Ashton dragged it on and Luke was losing his patience “No. Not really”

“Well I have to go. I don’t have time for this pointless conversation any longer. He's probably going to be here any minute”

“Oh I see how it is. Michael comes along and suddenly you don’t have any time for me” Luke rolled his eyes knowing that Ashton was just being ridiculous

“I’m hanging up the phone”

“Wear protection”

“Fuck you” and Luke hung up before Ashton could say any more smart remarks. Suddenly there was a sound of a car outside and Luke practically ran over to the window then felt stupid when it was just a car going by. He decided to go down stairs and wait on the couch being sick of beating himself up about this. It wasn’t a date. It was just two people hanging out so why was he so nervous? And why was he so worried about Michael being on time? Just because he was a little late that didn’t mean that he wasn’t coming at all and Luke knew he needed to calm down before Michael got there. Luke glanced towards the front door when he heard a beep and he got butterflies as he walked out the door seeing Michael shuffle around in the car. As he got closer Michael took a double look at him then gave a slight nod

“You know I’m kinda getting a kick out of where you live” Michael studied Luke's face a bit with a friendly smile

“Whys that?” Luke was a bit confused

“Calum used to live here” Luke shivered a bit at the mention of his name “Which room is yours?” Michael said nodding his head in the direction of the house

“Oh um the one on the 2nd floor on the right of the stairs”

“Yeah that was Cal’s room” This time Michael noticed how uneasy Luke looked “Sorry. I wont mention it again..just thought it was a bit strange” he started backing out of the driveway

“It actually is” Luke agreed and tried to put on a happy face again

“So umm” This was the first time Luke was seeing Michael nervous and he thought it was adorable “There's this gig tonight downtown and I was wondering if you would want to go there instead…”

“Oh Karolina Kuts?” Michael got a shocked look on his face like he couldn’t believe Luke had heard of the band and he was back to his old charming and confident self

“Actually yeah. You dig em?”

“I think they’re great yeah. I actually have never met anyone who likes them” Luke laughed a bit thinking back to his friends back in Washington “My friend used to give me shit for liking them” and he looked over to see Michael smiling and nodding at him then he quickly looked away

“I guess most people just don’t have good taste” Michael situated the hat on his head a little and Luke took this time to really take him in. He had a leather coat on and Luke had to close his eyes for a second because he was even more attractive than usual. Luke felt he looked like total garbage compared to Michael. He then noticed that Michael had a little scruff around his jaw .“So where’d you move from?” Luke snapped back into it and shifted his attention to the windshield

“Oh um Washington state like the western part” Luke didn’t mention what town because he was almost positive that Michael wouldn’t of heard of it anyways.

“You miss it? Michael cocked his head a bit in Luke's direction. Luke looked down for a second and thoughts of his brother began to appear but Luke tried not to get too choked up about it

“Certain things. I don’t miss the weather there though”. They continued with the small talk, which Luke realized he wasn’t very good at, all the way until they got to the little venue. Luke noticed that it was also a place where you could drink when they stepped in and there was a bar right under the balcony and there was already a large group of people in front of the stage

“You wanna drink?” Luke was a bit confused since he was barely even 18 and he was almost sure that Michael wasn’t close to being 21 either. Michael reached in his back pocket and waved the card a little“Fake I.D” he slightly whispered, appearing only inches from his face and Luke’s could hear his heartbeat speeding up. Luke stayed closed to Michael as he followed him through the crowd of people watching as Michael would briefly glance behind him to check if Luke was still there. The soundcheck began to start so it would be any minute until the band came on stage. They stood at the bar waiting on the bartender then Luke realized that he really didn’t drink that much but remembered that his dad would drink Jack and coke a lot so he decided to go with that hoping it wasn’t absolutely awful. The bartender looked at Luke first

“Just a jack and coke” Luke stammered out and he seen Michael shrug

“Two of those”. When the drinks came to them the glasses were bigger than he remembered his dad drinking and he hoped Michael wouldn’t think he was a total wimp if he didn’t drink it all. They both turned to the stage as the crowd cheered and the band began to appear on stage and noticed that they had a new drummer from the last time he had seen them in Seattle around a year ago then Luke widened his eyes as he realized it was Jacks old friend Tom. Tom and Jack went to high school together and Luke was reminded of all the times Tom would come over and him and Jack would shoot hoops outside or have nerf gun fights around the house. He hadn’t seen Tom since the funeral. “Are you okay?” that soft look was on Michael's face again and Luke had the sudden urge to lean into him to just feel his touch

“Yeah I uh just know the drummer. He used to be friends with my brother” Luke didn’t say his name aloud not knowing if he could handle saying it

“Well shit. You’ll have to introduce me” they both exchanged smiles then Michael's eyes were glued to the stage as the guitarist began his solo but Luke continued to stare at him as the colorful lights hit his face but the smile on his face was making it light up even more and Luke really hoped that Michael didn’t plan on looking back any time soon cause he just knew it was written all over his face how much he liked this kid he barely even knew and he didn’t want to scare Michael away. The rest of the concert was great. Every time the guitarist would do a solo Michael would get so into it as if he was the one playing the guitar and Luke couldn’t get over how cute it was and would die laughing every time he did it. Luke began to think Michael was just doing it to get a laugh out of Luke cause he started looking over to Luke while he did it then they would both go into laughter fits. Luke did end up finishing his drink by the end of the show so he was buzzing a bit considering he was such a lightweight when it came to liquor. When they got outside Luke could really feel the buzz and was walking a bit tipsy, Michael giggled a little bit

“That was a blast. We should do that again sometime” usually Luke wouldn’t of been so brave and say something like that but maybe in this situation it was good that he was being so upfront because Michael grinned

“Yeah. We totally should” Then his eyes were fixed on something behind Luke and Luke followed the movement and he seen the band packing their stuff into the van. Luke actually hoped Tom wouldn’t see him cause he wanted this time with Michael but sure he enough Tom looked to the right and was waving at him

“Aye Luke! Come here man!” Luke shook his head a bit and focused on Michael

“Did you want to go meet them?” Luke said in a bland tone not really wanting to but he would if Michael did

“Yeah sure”. As they got closer Tom brought Luke into an awkward hug. It wasn’t Tom that made it like that it was Luke cause he was almost always awkward

“How you been Luke? I haven’t seen you since you know…” and Toms face drastically changed into a less happy one “So its been about a year”

“Yeah I've been good. Oh umm this is Michael” He said gesturing to him and also wanting Tom not to mention a topic that he really didn’t feel like discussing. Michael reached his hand out first and Luke watched his tight grip on Toms hand then looked up to see his friendly smile

“That was a hell of a show man”

“Well thank you thank you. We try our best “ Luke noticed that Tom was being a bit more charming now that he was talking to Michael and he didn’t really like it if he was being honest. Then Luke realized this feeling of almost jealousy was stupid and shook it off the best he could. Tom and Michael talked a bit more about some band they were both into but Luke wasn’t really paying attention since he was so focused on watching the way Michael would casually lean into his arm a bit almost as if he was making sure Luke knew he was still acknowledging him and Luke tensed up every time not wanting him to lean away and also wishing he had Michael to himself. Luckily Tom turned around and noticed his band was getting in the car without him so he quickly said his goodbyes to Michael then his face got serious as he turned to Luke “I hope you’re doing okay Luke” then he finally lightened his face a bit “You look just like him” and Luke could see Michael looking back and forth between him and Tom almost as if he was trying to decipher what Tom was talking about. Luke didn’t know what to say back to that so he didn’t say anything and just watched as Tom gave a friendly wave to the both of them leaving them stand on the empty sidewalk and Luke looked up the the swaying palm trees and the starless sky just waiting for Michael to ask him what that was all about. He was expecting him to pry like Ashton would but instead he lightly brushed Luke's arm and gave him another one of his soft looks

“Does it still hurt?” Luke was a little confused on what he was talking about at first then Michael tapped under his own eye referring to Luke's still slightly blackened one

“Oh. No. Not really” and Luke really appreciated how concerned Michael was about the whole thing

“Good” and then they were just staring at each other. Luke thought he saw something more in Michael’s eyes but then it was gone in an instance “So why’d you have me pick you up at your house instead of Ashton's?” Michael asked just sounding curious

“Well Ashton just doesn’t think too highly of Calum, as you can imagine, so I didn’t want him thinking the same way about you and end up being rude to you or something”. Michael took a deep breath then sat down on the bench with his elbows on his knees and Luke did the same but leaned against the back of the bench

“I’m not friends with Calum anymore. I just wanted you to know that. When I moved here he was the only person that seemed to have a life more fucked up than mine and that made me feel better so that’s sorta how we became friends as shitty as it sounds” Luke didn’t like hearing that. Thinking about the fact that Michael has a hard life made him sick to his stomach but he did like that Michael was opening up to him like this. It made him feel special and it also meant that he trusted Luke. Then Luke finally thought of something worth saying aloud. 

“It didn’t really make sense to me how you were friends with Calum. Its just that you aren’t anything like him” Michael began nodding and Luke got scared that maybe that was a stupid thing to say but then Michael smiled down at the ground

“And it makes perfect sense that you’re friends with Ashton Irwin. Its rare that anyone has enough energy to keep up with that kid”

“It’s a full time job”

“Think he’ll give you some more time off tomorrow too?” Luke laughed rubbing the back of his neck as he felt Michael's gaze on him

“If not I’ll have to sneak out” Luke said as a rare wave of confidence swooped over him

“What a rebel” and Luke hoped Michael couldn’t see his cheeks getting pink for like the millionth time that night “But that’s good cause I was thinking you could come chill at mine”. Luke tried not to show how excited he was that Michael was inviting him to his actual house and he would have him all to himself for basically the first time.

“Yeah I’d love to” Luke finally looked at Michael. His eyes looking even more green than usual under the street lights

“Well good” and Luke swore he could kiss Michael right this second. His lips just looked so soft and he wanted them all over him. Luke swallowed hard and looked up into the sky “We better get you back home. Wouldn’t want the warden getting all worried again” Luke laughed at the fact Michael called Ashton the warden cause he really wasn’t wrong  
Michael was parked in Luke's driveway and Luke didn’t want to get out even though he knew he was seeing Michael tomorrow but he just didn’t want this night to end. He hoped they would leave off where they started when he went to hang out with Michael tomorrow and it gave him a warm feeling the way Michael waited to back out of the driveway after he knew Luke was inside  
His whole house was pitch dark so he knew that his mom wasn’t home from work yet which was a good thing because she would surely get after him for coming in so late. He flicked on the living room light then jumped back resting against the wall after having the scare of his life

“Jesus Christ, Ash are you trying to give me stroke for fucks sake?”

“So how’d it go?” Ashton said all casually like he hadn’t just scared the living shit out of Luke

“Why are you here? And why were all the lights off?”

“Well when I got here there was no reason to have the lights on because it was still daylight and I came here cause..” He picked up a video game and held it up for Luke to see “I bought the new FIFA game”

“But you don’t play FIFA, Ash” Ashton shrugged

“No but you do and I figured you could beat me at it and feel better after I completely destroyed your dignity at the arcade”

“You didn’t-whatever just put it in”. Ashton jumped up in excitement rubbing his eyes a bit waiting for the game to load and Luke knew he had been sleeping before he had walked in. Luke sunk down in the couch next to Ashton and took the controller from him

“And you never answered my question. How’d it go tonight?” Luke tried to hide the glow in his eyes as he began to smile “That good huh?”

“Shut up. But yeah it was…it was great. He was great” Luke zoned out thinking about Michael's smile and he could still see the way Michael would look at him. “But I seen one of Jacks old friends” Ashton quickly looked at Luke then back to the screen “He was the new drummer of the band we seen”

“Yeah? What’d he have to say?”

“He told me I looked just like Jack” At that Ashton stopped pushing buttons on the controller and sat back

“I bet Michael was a bit confused”

“He was but he didn’t pry like you would” Ashton shot him a glare then Luke smiled to let him know he was kidding “But he did tell me he wasn’t friends with Calum anymore”

“Yeah I’ll believe that when I see it” Ashton mumbled

“Don’t be like that. Michael is..” really amazing, so sweet but also cool and sexy at the same time Luke began to think but he decided not to say those things aloud

“He’s just cool and I really wish you would give him a chance”

“Maybe I would Luke if you’d let me officially meet him”

“We just started hanging out. I mean I don’t want to rush things”

“Christ Luke you're stressing out too much about this" he giggled “Besides I don’t think Michael is the type to date” Luke immediately paused the game and sat forward to make Ashton look at him

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ashton made an aggravated grunt

“I just meant that I’ve only ever heard of Michael hooking up with people. I don’t think he really dates and I know you aren’t the random hook up kind of guy. I just don’t want to see you get hurt okay?” Luke was happy that Ashton was looking out for him and all but he didn’t exactly want to hear what Ashton had just told him

“Well um. People can change”

“You’re right. They can. You know him better than I do just…be careful”


	5. Chapter 5

“Why do you think Michael only wants me to hang out with him like…at night?”

“I think you were right the first time when you called him and Calum vampires. It makes perfect sense”

“I’m being serious”

“Maybe he has a job? I’m sure he just works all day”

“I wonder why he’s never told me” Luke said more to himself than Ashton. They were sitting on the beach after swimming for hours until their legs were sore and luckily all that swimming had made time pass a whole lot faster. He knew wishing time would go by fast was no way to live especially when he had Ashton but he just couldn’t help but want to be with Michael every second. Luke grabbed his phone out of his back pocket when he felt it vibrating

*Michael, 5:50*  
_Hey you at home?_

Luke didn’t mean to giggle aloud and Ashton gave him a confused look. 

_No me and Ash are actually at the beach. Across from the surf shop_

*Michael, 5:53*  
_I’ll be there in 10_

Luke got as excited as he would if Michael was standing right in front of him because he was seeing Michael a tad earlier than planned but it was also the first time Michael ever texted him first. He sat there thinking about how this would play out

“Michael is coming to meet us here” Luke happily said as he threw a few rocks into the water

“But…but its daylight. I cant believe hes risking his life for you Luke”

“You better not be a dick”. Ashton dramatically put his hand on his chest and gasped

“Oh come on. You know I’m never mean to anyone to their face”

“You better not be”

“If anything I’ll be scared of him. Those vampires are pretty unpredictable”

“That’s it” Luke said in an aggravated tone, clearing having enough. Ashton quickly stood up and began to run away knowing he had teased luke a little too much and Luke went after him

“You cant catch me I’m the gingerbread man!” Ashton shouted in a high pitched voice just as he glanced back to see Luke right on his heels and soon Luke was grabbing ahold of Ashton by his waist and bringing them both into the water with a big splash. Ashton swam around underwater for a little bit but Luke instantly came up and pushed his wet hair back but was pulled back down when Ashton grabbed his legs

“Cut it out!” Luke said through laughs and they both started to get out of the water while Ashton occasionally splashed him. Luke froze in his tracks when he seen Michael sitting in the sand not too far from them with his arms on his knees and a grin on his face like he’d just seen the whole thing and luke rose his hand in a terrible attempt at a wave but it was hard to concentrate with what Michael had on. He was wearing a white Metallica shirt with the sleeves cut off and wasn’t wearing a hat for the first time Luke had ever seen.

“How long you been here?” Luke managed to spit out as he got closer. Ashton went over to grab his towel then threw lukes to him, catching him off guard but he still caught it.

“Long enough to see that sweet ass dive into the water” and it made Luke happy to see Ashton looking up and smiling as he wiped himself down with the towel. Luke glanced at Michael and noticed he was eyeing his naked torso a bit which gave him goose bumps but he tried to get his self together enough to sit down next to Michael since he looked in no hurry to leave. Luke purposely got as close to Michael as he could which earned him a strange look from Ashton

“I heard it supposed to rain tomorrow” Ashton casually said while his eyes were following the waves

“I hope so”

“You hope so?” Michael chuckled and now that he was turned to face Luke he was only inches away from his face. Luke began to feel a smile come on as he nodded looking back at Michael. In the sun Luke realized his eyes were more gray. He had a thing with eyes. It was always the first thing he would notice about a person and he decided right then and there that Michael's were his favorite

“Lukey likes the stars and he likes rain. Two things that you don’t see very much of here” Ashton spoke and it knocked Michael and Luke out of the little trance they were in. Luckily a few moments passed and Ashton figured he would leave, noticing that he was sort of the 3rd wheel in this situation and also remembering how much Luke talked about having Michael all to himself “I’ll see you guys later” he said doing a slight wave over his back

“Bye Ashy” and Ashton did a kissy face at him. Michael relaxed a bit more after Ashton had left which Luke was glad for but he also wished him and Ashton would have had more time to talk. He really wanted them to be friends since they both meant so much to him. Luke watched Michael take a deep breath as the wind picked up and Luke got chills not knowing if it was from the slight drop in temperature or if it was because of Michael just being Michael. He was just so breathtaking.

“You know I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who likes the rain” Michael's tone sounded more curious than anything. Just really wanting to know why Luke liked the rain

“Yeah” Luke looked at the water knowing he wouldn’t be able to remember what he was going to say if he continued to look at Michael “Well I uh..I never used to. Before it was just something that happened a lot and I didn’t think much of it. But now that I never get it, I know that it would remind me of back home..kinda takes me back there” Michael shifted a bit, leaning back on his palms and stretching one leg out

“And what about the stars?” Luke pursed his lips a little. He’d never really thought about it before.

“I’m not really sure I just feel a lot better when I’m looking at them” like the way I feel when I’m with you. Luke pressed his lips together after that thought, not wanting to accidentally say those words aloud “Ashton said there’s some cliff upstate where you can see them perfectly”

“Sliver Point” Michael said immediately knowing what Luke was talking about and Luke noticed he looked pretty lost in thought there for a few seconds then he shifted his body towards Luke. Michael got this mischievous look on his face as he glanced behind him “I’ll race ya to that street light” and Luke didn’t even have any time to answer before Michael was sprinting off towards it and Luke jumped up and scurried behind him, his legs still in a little pain from overworking them for hours

“You cheater!” Luke yelled and Michael just kept running until he touched the street lamp and bent over “That wasn’t fair..my legs are sore”

“Aww poor wittle luke” Michael mocked him laughing and straightening back up. Luke got closer to him still breathing hard even though he wasn’t running even nearly as fast and Michael bumped his shoulder against his.

“Do you think your legs will hold up for a few blocks? I don’t live too far” Luke knew that even if Michael lived miles away he would still walk with him. There was no way he was going to let a little pain get in the way of being with him.  
When they got to Michaels house Luke loved how homey it looked. There was a small flight of stairs leading up to the front door with a porch and flowers all over. It was quite a bit bigger than his own house and he watched as Michael ran his hand over the railing until reaching the top of the of stairs

“My moms out of town which means I've got the house to myself for the whole weekend” and Luke could hear the smile in his voice as he opened the door to the dark house. Michael flicked on the light and Luke glanced around the neatly kept living room. There were family pictures all over the wall and Luke couldn’t help but go over to one of young Michael holding up a fish. He only looked about 5 or 6

“You were so cute” Luke's eyes widened when he realized he had, for once, let his thoughts come out of his mouth. He turned around to see Michael's reaction and he had that look in his eyes that Luke had seen after the concert but this time it didn’t go away as he walked towards Luke

“Yeah my dad took me fishing upstate” Michael shifted closer to Luke “That was the last time I seen him actually” Luke felt a lump form in his throat as he looked over at Michael. He had never seen him look so miserable and all Luke wanted to do was have his arms around Michael, holding him tight and making sure that he never felt sad again “I wanna show you something” Michael was back to his cheerful self as Luke followed him up the spiral staircase. His room had a different feeling than downstairs. Up in Michael's room Luke felt like he was in his own room. It all felt very familiar with the big windows and poster covered walls. Michael began to rummage through one of his dresser drawers then faced Luke and sat down on the edge of the bed with a book in his hand. Luke squinted at it

“Whats that?”

“My year book from 7th grade. You gotta see this” Michael patted the bed and Luke instantly sat next to Michael, their knees touched for a brief second and luke got way to excited from just that small amount of contact. Luke looked down as Michael flipped through a few pages then laughed and pointed to a geeky looking kid with glasses and long shaggy hair down to his shoulders “This is Ashton”

“No fucking way” Luke said trying not to laugh and Michael pointed to the name. Sure enough it was Ashton and Luke couldn’t help giggles that came out of him as he took out his phone, snapping a quick picture “You never know when I might need to blackmail him”

“That’s so evil” Michael began closing the book but Luke stopped him

“Wait but I wanna see you” he said softly. Michael rolled his eyes at the puppy dog face Luke was giving him

“Nope. Not happening” He stood up and began walking towards his dresser to put the yearbook back

“Oh come on. It cant be that bad”

“Oh but it is” Now Michael was standing over Luke and Luke wished he would sit by him again “its way worse than Ashton’s”

“I really doubt that. I bet you look adorable” and Luke looked up to see Michael actually blushing and trying to hide a smile as he looked out the window. He had never seen Michael blush because usually it was Michael that was making him get all flustered with about everything he ever did

“Maybe another time” Michael mumbled as he took a few steps over to his TV and got this smirk on his face “I’ll make you a deal Luke” Luke’s stomach did a few flops at the way Michael said his name “If you can beat me at FIFA, I’ll show you the picture”. Luke knew he did pretty decent at fifa but he didn’t know how good Michael was. He agreed none the less hoping he would have a chance at winning.

“Deal”

*

Soon Michael and Luke were both sitting against the wall gripping their controllers and Michael looked very determined to win. Luke on the other hand knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on account of Michael being so close to him and their legs touching. Luke slowly moved his eyes to look at Michael not wanting to make it obvious and he watched as Michael bit his lip and burrowed his eyebrows in concentration. Michael moved his eyes quickly over to Luke and Luke looked away just as fast.

“You ready?” Michael said patting Luke's leg and Luke really wasn’t. He was no way near focused enough but he nodded anyways  
2 minutes into the game and Luke could already tell that Michael was a hell of a lot better than he was. He was used to playing against Ashton, who was terrible, so Luke had always had it easy but Michael was some real competition. Once Michael had scored 5 goals already Luke had pretty much given up.

“If I would of known you were gonna be this good I wouldn’t of even made that bet” Michael chuckled and Luke found himself looking at the guitar propped up against the wall  
Michael paused the game once he noticed Luke had pretty much lost interest and looked to where he was looking “Do you play?”Luke let his eyes fall to the floor and thought back to all the times he sat playing his guitar in this room.

“I used to” He said it so quiet that he didn’t even know if Michael heard him. The bed moved and he watched as Michael got off. As clingy as it sounds Luke already missed him. Michael came back to and sat at the end of it with the guitar and Luke moved down the bed and sat near him with his legs crossed. Michael smiled at him before looking back at his guitar. Luke couldn’t believe how soft his face looked and all he wanted to do was reach out and touch him. Even if he just brushed his fingers across him, he just needed some kind of contact but of course he never did what he wanted when he was with Michael. Just stood back and counted his blessings that he even got a chance to be with Michael at all. Michael began to strum the beginning of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. Luke hadn’t heard the song in year and the sound of it, mixed with the happiness of being with Michael and warm breeze coming in through the window was putting him to sleep. Luke leaned back against the head board eyeing Michael's fingers go across the strings. Michael must of felt like he was boring Luke when really it was quite the opposite, Luke loved hearing him play but Michael looked a little embarrassed as he ran his fingers through his hair. 

“We can watch a movie or something if you want” Luke shook his head, looking at Michael with hooded eyes as he arm was behind his head. For once Luke decided to say what he was thinking aloud.

“I love hearing you play” Michael got all blushy again and Luke needed to kiss him. He wanted to more than anything and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold back. Michael slid back to the wall and put his legs on top of Luke's shins and Luke actually liked how he didn’t even look for permission to do that. It meant that Michael was comfortable with him and it gave Luke a warm feeling. Luke doesn’t even know how long he just laid there feeling like he was in absolute heaven as he listened to Michael playing different songs as he would occasionally rub his foot against Luke's leg. When Michael finally got too tired to even hold his head up anymore he set his guitar down against the wall on the floor and got under the blankets next to Luke. The way Michael was looking him Luke he could of sworn he wanted to kiss him just as much as Luke wanted him too but he put his face into the pillow instead.

“Night Luke” Michael said with closed eyes

“Goodnight”

*

Luke didn’t know what but something woke him up. He wasn’t the type of person to just wake up in the middle of the night for no reason so he glanced around the room and then jumped a bit when thunder shook the house. He glanced to his right and seen Michael still fast asleep. He was curled up in a ball with both hands under the pillow and his mouth slightly open. Luke had never seen something so beautiful and he felt like he needed to wrap himself around Michael and tuck his head under his chin. If he was being honest he was feeling quite cold and even getting more under the blankets wasn’t helping. He was so tired of having to hold back with what he said to Michael and what he wanted to do. He felt like he wasn’t being truthful since he was holding so much in and Luke decided that he had to tell Michael how he felt and soon. Luke closed his eyes and began to shiver a bit as he pushed his face more into the pillow for some reason feeling like this would warm him up. He felt Michael shift a bit but still kept his eyes shut but it was almost as if he could feel Michael's eyes on him. He was sure of it.

“Are you cold?” Michael's voice was rough and Luke couldn't get over how sexy it sounded. He wished Michael would say his name in that voice. Luke opened his eyes to see Michael's hair a bit messy from sleep and his eyes smaller than usual. He nodded and Michael got that caring looking on his face again like he wanted Luke. Like he wanted Luke as much as Luke wanted him and that look internally pained Luke. “C’mere then” Luke widened his eyes. He wasn’t sure what Michael wanted him to do. Luke knew what he wanted to do and has been wanting to do ever since he saw Michael but he didn’t know if Michael wanted him to just get closer so he could share his blanket with him or if he wanted him to cuddle up against him. Luke hoped it was the 2nd one but didn’t want to freak Michael out if he made the wrong assumption. So instead he just inched a little closer but Michael still didn’t move. At this distance Luke would be close enough to share the blanket with him. Did Michael really want Luke to cuddle up to him? So he decided to just go for it. He didn’t look at Michael as he got even closer and pressed his body against him. Luke's whole body was stiff out of pure nervousness at what Michael's reaction might be and he tucked his head under Michael's chin. This was heaven. He was almost positive Michael could hear his fast heartbeat because he could feel Michael's slower one against his cheek. He closed his eyes out of being so relaxed as Michael wrapped his arm around Luke's waist and held him tight but didn’t move after that. All the nervousness Luke had was gone now. Michael really did want Luke close to him but Luke didn’t want to go to sleep yet. He wanted to enjoy this as much as he could, not knowing if it would ever happen again but god he hoped it would. He hoped this and a lot more would happen with Michael.

Luke had both his arms against himself but he wanted to touch Michael so he carefully brought his arm up and set his hand on top of Michael's bicep. His skin was so soft, just like he knew it would be. He began to subconsciously rub his fingers across it but stopped immediately when Michael shuffled a bit and he realized what he had been doing. He was scared of what Michael would think. That wasn’t exactly a thing friends do but yet again friends don’t usually cuddle like this either. Luke felt his eyes close and he sucked in a breath as Michael began to slide his fingers up and down Luke's spine. It was a small act but it made Luke's heart race even faster and it hit him that Michael might actually like him back. Luke knew him and Ashton wouldn’t ever do something like this and it was because they were strictly just friends. Maybe Michael was a more touchy person but still. This didn’t feel like just friends so Luke got brave and lifted his head up to bury it in Michael's neck. He took a deep breath and then brushed his lips against it. He felt Michael get goose bumps on his arms and that gave him even more confidence. He was getting ready to really kiss Michael's neck but then Michael rubbed his face against Luke's hair

“Luke” Michael whispered wanting Luke to look at him. Luke sat back, already missing Michael's warmth, his eyes were looking all over Luke's face then he brought his hand up to grip Luke's neck and softy began to rub his thumb against it. Luke shivered and this time it wasn’t from being cold. It felt as if Luke's whole body was on fire as Michael pressed his lips, a little hesitantly, against his and Luke kissed him back with a lot more confidence now knowing that Michael wanted him and Michael began sliding his lips a bit faster but still just as soft and Luke loved how gentle he was being. Luke let his hand fall from Michael's arm and slid it under his shirt needing to feel more of him as he rubbed his hand up and down his chest. That must of sparked something in Michael because he began to kiss Luke more fiercely as he tightened his grip on Luke's neck. At this point Luke felt as if he couldn’t breathe but he didn’t dare stop. He just wanted to touch Michael all over so he moved his hand to his back and then his thigh and Michael put his leg over Luke's as he got as close as he could. Luke finally had to break the kiss just so he could breathe again and he still kept his lips close to Michael's and his eyes closed as he breathed heavy. He opened them as Michael brushed the back of his fingers on Luke's cheek and lifted his chin up and Luke felt like he should say something but he couldn’t muster up the words. He was just so shocked that this was actually happening and suddenly Michael noticed Luke's eye was still slightly bruised so he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss there making Luke's stomach feel the way it does when he’s on a roller coaster. Michael was so perfect.

“I’ve wanted you like this ever since I first seen you Luke” Michael whispered, now looking at him again. Luke nodded then got a smile on his face remembering the bonfire

“Me too. Ever since you made me spill my drink all over myself” Luke laughed but Michael got a confused look on his face “You walked past me and bumped me, making me spill my drink” Michael looked a bit embarrassed and kissed Luke's cheek

“I was kinda a dick. I’m sorry”. Then Luke thought back to that night he had his first confrontation with Calum and Luke leaned forward needing to kiss him again not knowing how long this next conversation would last. Michael melted into it and let Luke lead.

“I still remember the way you looked at me that night me and Ashton ran into Calum outside of that video store. I was wondering what you were thinking”. Michael rubbed his hand over Lukes arm and did a tired smile.

“I just-“ He bit his lip and looked nervous “I just couldn’t get over how beautiful you are Luke and even though I barely knew you at that point I wanted to make sure Calum or anybody never hurt you. Guess I failed at that one” Luke shook his head. He hated that Michael felt bad about this.

“It wasn’t your fault and I’m fine. I really am”

“It wont happen again. I promise you it wont” and Luke trusted him. He had so much trust for Michael

*

The sun was shining in through the blinds and Luke realized he had an extra blanket on him when he started to open his eyes. He also noticed that Michael was no longer beside him and he groaned a bit. He would of loved to wake up to Michael cuddling against him like he was when they fell asleep last night and suddenly everything that had happened last night came flooding into Luke's mind. He couldn’t help but be scared that Michael would regret what he said to Luke last night or regret that they had kissed. He’s had guys kiss him before then act as if it never happened and it made Luke sick to his stomach to think of Michael doing that. He pried himself out of bed and did the best of rubbing the sleep out of his eyes not wanting to look like total shit in front of Michael then began walking towards downstairs. The smell of breakfast food greeted him as soon as he got to the stairs and he smiled to himself. When he got to the kitchen Michael was slumped over the counter eating with both of his elbows on the surface. Luke leaned against the archway and planned on looking at him until Michael noticed him. Michael's shirt was off and he was only in basketball shorts and Luke loved seeing him this exposed.

“Oh hey…morning” Michael said swallowing his food “I cooked some pancakes if you want some”

“I’m impressed” and Luke was being honest. He could barely even boil an egg let alone cook pancakes so it had been a while since he had any. He was already about drooling at how good they looked as he put some on a plate and drenched them in syrup. They sat in silence for a little while as Michael finished off his food then took a sip of milk and Luke kept looking his torso up and down and all he wanted to do was kiss it all over. He couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss last night and wondered if Michael thought it was as big a deal he did. Sure it wasn’t Luke's first kiss or anything (although he wished it would have been) but he felt something that he hadn’t felt with anyone else and he hoped Michael would let him do it again..Along with other things. Luke was knocked out of his daydreaming when Michael stood up with his plate in his hand then slightly rubbed Luke's shoulder as he walked past him making him crave Michael's touch

“Did you sleep good?”

“Yeah..Yeah I slept great” and Luke wanted to be back in bed cuddled up with him. Michael pressed his lips together not meeting Luke’s eyes

“Listen Luke..I just want you to know that I meant everything I said last night and I don’t regret anything that happened” he got a cheeky grin on his face “In fact I’m having a hard time not kissing you right now” Luke tried to hide his blushing cheeks against his shirt then Michael got a serious look on his face again “I just really like you and I don’t’ want you to have any doubt about that” Luke’s heart melted and a wave of bravery came over him

“Come kiss me” He said quietly and Michael instantly smiled and walked around the counter as Luke turned around to lean against it. Michael put his hands on Luke's thighs and began rubbing them up and down not breaking eye contact and Luke lunged forward putting his hands on Michael's neck and kissing him, not being able to take it anymore and Michael was kissing him a lot more roughly than last night but Luke was loving it. Luke remembered that Michael was still shirtless so he let his hands fall down to his stomach and began rubbing the back of his fingers against it feeling his soft skin turn into goose bumps and he moved his hands to Michael's sides, bringing him closer and in between his legs now. Suddenly Luke's phone in his pocket began to ring and he groaned and decided to just ignore it so he started to kiss down Michael's jaw and Luke smiled when Michael quietly moaned. The ringing finally came to a halt and Luke went back to Michael's lips just as the phone began to ring again and Michael laughed and pulled back as Luke let out a breathy “fuck” out of annoyance.

“Just answer it Luke” and Michael took the phone out of Luke's pocket “It’s Ashton” Of coarse Ashton would be calling him now. He was always so worried and Luke swore Ashton was more paranoid than his own mother

“What?” and Luke put his hand through his hair.

“Well Jesus Christ what crawled up your asshole? I was just calling to see where you were since I haven’t even heard from you since last night”

“I’m at Michael's. I don’t even have any other friends where else would I be?” Michael rose his eyebrows then softly rubbed Luke's arm trying to get him to calm down a bit and it helped. Luke let out a breath “ Sorry but I really am fine”

“Well forgive me for being a bit more worried about you after what Calum did” and Luke tensed up and could almost feel the pain Calum inflicted on him “I shouldn’t have let that happen”

“Ash there was nothing you could of done. It was no ones fault okay?”

“Yeah but the reason he even did that to you was because you were sticking up for me” and Luke started to get annoyed again. He just really wished people would stop blaming themselves for what happened to him and he was really sick of having to talk about it.

“Can we not have this conversation now? Or ever preferably? it’s done with and I lived alright?”

“Why are you so on edge? Did I interrupt some glorious blowjob you were getting or something?”

“Good bye Ashton” and Luke looked up to see Michael squinting his eyes shut and laughing, clearly he had heard what Ashton said and Luke quickly hung up before Ash could say anything else.

“He’s uh..” Michael wiped his eyes a bit “He’s a real piece of work”

“You have no idea”. Michael got a hold of himself after the laughing fit he just got into then started ruffling the front of Luke’s hair.

“How about we do something fun today?” and with that Luke couldn't stop smiling.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter is called Jesus Christ by Brand New. It's a song that personally means the whole world to me so that's why I've used it

“Luke come on! It’s not even that tall” Michael was dragging Luke towards the biggest roller coaster on the board walk and Luke didn’t want anything to do with it

“Look! Did you see that? A kid like 10 years younger than you just got in line”

“I don’t know Michael” Luke said nervously as he stepped back and looked up at it. It was a wooden one and he typically didn’t like the wooden ones. They were too shaky and usually made him sick and that last thing he wanted to do was embarrass himself by puking his guts out in front of Michael.

“I’ll hold your hand the whole time. I promise” Luke perked right up at those words and he really didn’t want to turn down the chance to hold hands with Michael “I just don’t want to go by myself and I’m sure you’ll love it” Michael's voice was a lot softer now and Luke was being pulled right in. He realized right then that he might never be able to say no to anything Michael asked him.

“Okay. I’ll do it” and instantly Michael was wrapping his arms around Luke

“If you absolutely hate it I promise I won’t ever ask you to ride one again okay?” Luke nodded and felt safe like he was going to be okay with this. Michael put one arm around Luke and led him over to the line. The line wasn’t very long so he knew he wouldn’t have much time to over think his decision and then back out. Which was a good thing because Michael was so excited that he was going with him and Luke didn’t want to let him down. Slowly the next group of people began to get on the roller coaster and Luke knew that after this ride it would be their turn and he wished Michael was holding his hand right now. They both watched the coaster take off fast and Luke jumped at the noise and Michael just had this big smile on his face as he watched it go up the first hill. Luke looked away right when it was about to go down the hill but he could hear the people screaming and it made him about want to turn around and run far away from all this.  
Luke snapped back into it when the line started moving again and when it got to them Michael grabbed Luke’s hand and led them to one of the middle seats. The very front seats weren’t taken and Luke was so happy Michael didn’t choose to sit there. Luke nervously watched the worker make sure they were secured in the seat and was wondering when Michael would grab his hand again. He really needed it right now and a buzzer went off and jerked them forward.

“Are you okay?” Michael moved in his seat to see Luke better and Luke just forced a smile while looking down at the floor. Michael looked down at Luke’s slightly shaking hands “Do you still want that hand held?" Luke couldn’t help but laugh at his tone but nodded none the less and Michael grabbed it and put it on his own lap while he slowly rubbed his thumb across Luke’s fingers. It was definitely helping Luke because he didn’t even realize they had gotten to the top of the hill and as he looked down it really wasn’t that big but he closed his eyes as they went flying down it. He opened his eyes back up when he heard Michael screaming like a little girl and realized it was all in excitement when he started laughing. The rest of the ride was an absolute breeze and Luke didn’t even understand why he was scared in the first place. He actually felt like he wanted to go again..mostly just to see how excited Michael would get. “Did you like it? We’re you okay?” Michael was so worried about how Luke felt about it since he knew he would feel bad if Luke hated it.

“Yeah” Luke let out a laugh “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was actually really fun”

“Well I’m glad” Michael got a crooked grin on his face and Luke couldn’t look away “What do you wanna do now? We can do anything you want” It was starting to get dark out and Luke knew things would be closing soon so he didn’t have a lot to choose from. Really he didn’t care what he was doing as long as he was with Michael and he almost told him that but then realized how cheesy that would have sounded.

“Hmmm. I don’t know. You pick” Luke really did have no clue. He didn’t know of much things to do here yet.

“I feel bad for forcing you to go on that roller coaster”

“I was fine. I’m glad you did” Luke really was okay with it “How about you show me your favorite place in the city?” Michael made his thinking face and rubbed his hand up his jaw as he tried to concentrate. Luke thought it was adorable.

“Well the record store but you don’t wanna-“

“No I do!” Luke would go anywhere that meant something to Michael and Luke began walking backwards “Show me the way”. Michael moved his head to the ground trying to hide his smile and caught up with Luke wrapping his arms around his shoulders and giving his temple a kiss.

*

When they got into the record store it was almost completely silent. There was a faint sound of Hanging On The Telephone by The Nerves playing by the front desk but Michael ended up leading him all the way to the back of the store where the music couldn't be heard anymore. It smelled of packing dust and the ocean breeze air freshener that was plugged in by the corner of the room but it was comforting to Luke, being in there, and he couldn’t put his finger on why it was. He watched as Michael carefully flipped through the records like he was looking for a certain one and Luke stood closer to get a look at them. He did recognize a few of them but most of them he had never heard of. Michael pulled out an album with a picture of two people with masks on standing up on a step and young girl standing around the corner from them then he walked past Luke and carefully put it in the record player.

“It’s the fourth song on the album. It deserves to be the first though” Michael said pointing a finger at Luke in a joking way and Luke flicked his eyes away from Michael before he leaned against the wall and slid down it to sit on the floor. Michael took a double look at him then followed his action and shyly grabbed Luke’s hand as he used his other hand to fix his own hair “I sure know how to have fun don’t I?” Luke laughed at that and squeezed his hand.

“I love being in here. It gives you enough room to think” Luke hoped Michael knew what he meant by that. It was just so quiet and he felt so at ease that he was able to focus on just his own thoughts.

“Yeah? What’re you thinking about Luke?” If Luke was being honest he was thinking about Jack and how he was the person who got him into loving music as much as he did. He hadn’t told Michael even a single thing about him and didn’t want to bring the mood down but he also figured that there couldn’t be a better time for it. He didn’t want Michael to think that he didn’t trust him because that wasn’t it at all. He just didn’t want Michael to think differently of him just because he had lost someone close to him. People always become more careful and scared to say something wrong when you tell them you’ve went through a loss like that.

“I’m thinking about my brother…Jack” The words felt like poison coming off his tongue and he felt Michael rub his thumb against his wrist “He umm…he died in a car accident a year ago” Michael took a deep breath without noticing he did and continued to keep his eyes on the side of Luke’s face. Luke tried to focus on the rotating of the record as he forced himself to continue “That’s what Tom was talking about after we went to that concert. I should have explained myself then but I didn’t want to freak you out”

“Nothing about you would ever freak me out” Luke turned to him and seen that he was completely facing him now “I’m just really sorry you had to go through that, Luke. You’re way stronger that I ever could be” Luke shook his head at that. He didn’t feel like he handled is very well at all considering that he barely left his room for 6 months and lost 15 pounds.

“I just fell apart. I wasn’t strong at all Michael” his voice sounded so weak but he was not going to let himself cry. Not here. Michael brought him closer so that Luke was leaning against his chest and softly stroked his hair.

“We all fall apart sometimes but you’re here now. You made it and that’s all that matters” Michael gave him a kiss on the top of his head and Luke curled into him even more. He wondered how Michael always managed to make him feel better no matter what.

“Thank you” Luke whispered even thought he didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“For what?” Michael said softly

“For just being….you and being there for me” He felt Michael smile against his forehead and then Michael’s fingers hooked under Luke’s chin and he brought them into a kiss. Michael was being so slow and delicate about the kiss that Luke felt like his lips were barely even touching his Michael's but he was loving it. The thing he could feel the most was Michael’s hot breath in his mouth and his hand going up and down the side of his stomach. They both kind of froze and smiled when the next song came on and they realized that this was the fourth song of the album. Michael gave him a quick kiss on his neck and leaned his head against the wall as Luke buried his face in his neck. The beginning of the song was so soothing to Luke. It had barely even started but he already knew that he would love it.

_Jesus Christ that’s a pretty face_   
_The kind you’d find on someone that could save_   
_If they don’t put me away_   
_Well it’ll be a miracle_

Luke melted into the lyrics and began to close his eyes as Michael prickled his fingers against the hairs at the bottom of his head.

_Do you believe your missin’ out_   
_That everything good is happening somewhere else_   
_But with nobody in your bed_   
_The nights hard to get through_

Luke began to think that before he met Michael he always felt like he wanted to be somewhere else. Like living anywhere else would have been better than where he was and sometimes he even felt like he wanted a whole new everything. New family, new friends just an entirely different life. He knew this way of thinking was unhealthy but he just couldn’t help it. But at this moment the only place he wanted to be was with Michael. It felt so right.

_And I will die all alone and when I arrive I won’t know anyone_   
_Well Jesus Christ, I’m alone again_   
_So what did you do those three days you were dead?_   
_Cause this problems gonna last more than the weekend_   
_Well Jesus Christ I’m not scared to die, I’m a little bit scared of what comes after_   
_Do I get the gold chariot?_   
_Do I float through the ceiling?_

They sat in almost complete silence for the rest of the song with Michael just giving Luke kisses and softly singing the lyrics into his ear. Luke had never felt so alive in his entire life. When the song ended Luke stretched his arms out a bit then sat up a little to face Michael with a big grin on his face

“What?’ Michael dragging it out and doing a breathy laugh

“Can I steal your favorite song?”

“Did you like?” Michael said making his voice sound higher

“Yeah I liked” Luke said kissing him again

“On a serious note though that songs means a lot to me so I’m really glad you liked it” Suddenly Luke blushed a bit at the thought that came into his head and he forced himself to say it

“Can that be…our song?” and Michael looked as if he was actually glowing which made all of Luke’s nervousness go away in one breath.

“Yeah…hell yeah it can” Michael said quickly, unable to get the smile off his face “I’d really love that”


	7. Chapter 7

Luke peacefully fell asleep with both of Michael’s arms around him but he wasn’t expecting to be pulled out of his sleep by a loud banging noise coming from downstairs and it made him instantly panic.

“Michael” Luke said lightly shaking him and he opened his eyes but by then the knocking had stopped.

“Hmm” the knocking started up again and Michael sat up quickly and squinted his eyes “What the fuck” he mumbled looking out his bedroom door “Wait here” Luke looked at the clock behind him and seen that it was almost 5am so he didn’t understand who would be knocking at Michael’s door at this time. Michael left the room without Luke noticing and Luke watched him until he could no longer see him. He could hear faint voices but he wanted to hear them clearly so he got up and leaned against the door frame but he still didn’t leave the room.

“I’ve called you! I’ve called you like a hundred fucking times and you just refuse to pick up so I decided to just show up!” Luke widened his eyes and held himself up

“I haven’t called you, Calum because I want nothing to do with you anymore. Don’t you get that?”

“Oh okay!” Calum was wasted and Luke knew how crazy he was even when he was sober “So I kick some random kids ass and you just fucking dump me on the side of the road like I’m nothing? Like I wasn’t the only kid who talked to you when you moved here? You’re a real piece of shit you know that?”

“Just leave. I’m sick of having this conversation with you” Michael was staying calm for the most part but Luke wondered how long it would last

“I’m not going anywhere” then Calum did a little laugh “He’s here right now isn’t he?” Luke began to shake a bit as he remembered Calum being on top of him and repeatedly hitting him all over his body. He could almost feel the pain again “Oh I KNOW he’s fucking here” this time Calum sounded a lot more closer and Luke quickly went back into the bedroom and just stood at the end of the bed. He didn’t feel safe turning his back at all. Even if it was for a second.

“Calum!” the fear in Michael’s voice scared Luke even more and he didn’t take his eyes off the door expecting Calum to walk in any second then he heard someone running up the stairs and another pair of feet right behind it. “Luke shut the door!” Luke ran forward and shut it looking down to see a lock and twisting his fingers around it. He backed up feeling like nothing could harm him but on the other hand he knew Michael was still out there with Calum. He also knew that if Michael was in any kind of danger at all he wouldn’t hesitate to go out there and get Calum away from him. Just like he had done for Ashton. Even though he knew he was safe with Michael he couldn’t help but wish Ashton was here with him.

“You son of a bitch!” Calum pounded on the door over and over as Luke jumped every time he did. The back of his knees hit the bed and he sat back on it with his legs up, closing his eyes and just wanting this to end “Blondie I swear-“ then he heard a loud noise as if Calum was falling to the floor. He didn’t take his eyes off the door, wishing he could see through it. It made him so nervous not knowing what was happening on the other side.

“I don’t ever want to see your face again. You hear me?” Luke shook at Michael’s words. It almost didn’t even sound like him. There was some fast walking going down the hallway then he heard Michael let out a breath and sound like he was leaning against the door. The front door was shut loudly then Michael groaned a bit

“Lukey it’s me” Luke practically ran over the door to open it and Michael fell into his arms, putting kisses all over his neck. “I’m so sorry”

“No its okay. I’m fine” Luke had to be honest that he wasn’t fine before but he was now and Michael protected him just like he said he would.

“I promised you that he wouldn’t come around anymore”

“You couldn’t stop it from happening Michael but look at me…I’m fine” Michael closed his eyes a bit when Luke leaned into him and Luke looked down to see one of his knuckles covered in blood “But you aren’t. Come on” Luke slowly led him to the bathroom and had him lean against the counter. He got one of the wash cloths that was on the sink and got it wet then softly started to dab it on Michaels hand. Michael flinched a bit at first then relaxed when Luke kissed him on the cheek.

“He’s such a fucking asshole” He rubbed one hand over his face “I just can’t believe I was friends with him”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m sure you guys had some good times” Luke couldn’t really believe the said that since he had so much hatred for Calum but he wanted Michael to feel better.

“I suppose so” Michael laughed a little “But they were all things that could have put me in jail”

“Michael in jail…hmmm. I wonder how that would play out”

“Not good. I’d just sit in a corner and cry”

“Yeah I couldn’t handle it either” Luke said laughing. He grabbed the bandage and wrapped it around Michael’s hand “There. All better” Luke picked his hand up to kiss Michael’s fingers and gave him a smirk. Michael’s face was completely still and he just kept moving his eyes all over Luke’s face trying to decipher if he was even real or not. He put both his hands on Luke’s hips and pulled him forward while he started to suck a bruise right behind Luke’s ear making him get chills. He rubbed his cheek against Michael and brought his hands up to put them under his shirt as he actually felt like the air in the room was thickening. Michael finally took his lips away from Luke’s neck and put them on his lips instead as he kissed him roughly slipping his tongue in and actually making Luke moan. Michael had never kissed him like this and Luke wished he would have a lot sooner. Luke started to whimper and he felt himself getting hard in his boxers as Michael gripped one hand around the back of his neck and gave his lower lip a small lick. Luke got a little brave and started to slowly palm Michael’s dick and he could feel it getting hard by just having his hand on it.

“Mmm fuck Luke” he breathed into Luke’s mouth and Luke broke the kiss just because he needed to kiss Michael’s neck. He began sucking right on his adam’s apple and Michael leaned back a little so Luke could do it easier and he felt Michael squeeze his ass and that was all it took. He just needed way more of Michael

“Shit” He said out of breath just from being so turned on and he patted Michael’s jeans “Take these off” Michael widened his eyes. He just didn’t know Luke could be this forward and dominant but he was all for it and he hurry up and took them off and then his shirt too while he was at it. Luke just stood there in shock. He had to take a second to take in how beautiful Michael was and he slowly trailed his fingers up and down his chest. When he looked up Michael already had his eyes on him.

“Let’s go to my bedroom” he whispered. He just didn’t want their first time be in his bathroom and Luke eagerly nodded.

*

When they were back on Michael’s bed Michael was in control this time as he hovered above Luke and rubbed him through his boxers making him arch up. He finally sat down on Luke and began grinding against him like his life depending on it and Luke had one hand in his own hair as he bit his lip and the other hand on Michael’s thigh slowly rubbing it. Michael leaned down and put his hands on Luke’s face and kissed him hard like he had before while still keeping a steady pace of his hips. Luke knew they were just starting but he was already so close. Michael stopped suddenly then scampered down the bed and put his fingers under the lining of Luke’s boxers then he looked up at Luke.

“Is this okay?” Luke smiled and nodded, not being able to form words. Michael couldn’t help himself as he leaned up to steal quick kiss then went back down to his previous position. Michael got his lips on Luke’s dick fast probably because he knew he was close and Luke couldn’t believe how good he was at it. He just kept moaning “Michael” over and over but it was just the only thing his mind could of think of right now then Michael put his hand on it as he began stroking it and just sucking on the tip driving Luke even more insane and he knew he was seconds of away from his orgasm.

“Mikey..Mikey I’m-“he tried to push him away but he didn’t budge and soon Luke was completely coming undone. He put both his arms over his head and closed his eyes trying to catch his breath again and soon Michael was moaning too and falling on top of him “Did you just-“

“Mhm” Michael chuckled but Luke was a really bummed.

“But I wanted to make you feel good” Luke whinned like a child but he was actually sad that Michael had already reached his orgasm.

“Trust me baby you did” He weakly kissed Luke’s chest and Luke realized he was okay with that. He would just wait until next time and he hoped there would be a next time. He couldn’t help but have doubts about certain things even thought he knew Michael really did like him. It was just him being nervous about losing someone that meant so much to him. Luke once again took Michael’s hurt hand and brushed his lips against it.

“Does it feel any better?’

“It actually does” Michael sat up a bit and rested his weight on his elbows studying Luke’s face “God you’re fucking amazing Luke”

“I-“then Luke froze. He couldn’t believe he was just about to tell Michael that he loved him. It was way too soon and even thought Luke did love him he couldn’t say it and risk scaring Michael off “I really like being with you Michael. So much” It was the next best thing Luke could say to him and Michael seemed to like it.

“Well good cause I’m not going anywhere” he said making their noses touch.

“I wouldn’t want you to” he whispered back before pulling Michael into a kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update so here is two chapters

Luke woke up to his phone vibrating and seen that he had missed 10 calls from Ashton. He guessed it would to be expected since he hadn’t really kept in contact with him these past few days or seen him. He started to feel really bad about it actually and he quietly slipped out of bed to call him so he wouldn’t wake up Michael who was cutely curled up in a ball and Luke smiled to himself before making his way downstairs. He made himself comfortable on the couch then took a deep breath before he pressed “call” knowing Ashton would give him an ear full.

“Hi Ashy” he said purposely sounding extra nice

“Well hi Lucas. Long time no talk” he was pissed and Luke knew it

“I’m sorry but you know it’s only been a day Ash”

“Are we even friends anymore Luke? Do I mean nothing to you now?” Luke laughed a bit at how much he was exaggerating but he knew deep down that Ashton was joking and just giving him a hard time

“Of course we’re friends. You’re my best friend” Luke decided to humor him a bit but he meant it. Ashton was his best friend and he really missed him. They were just used to hanging out literally every single day which is why he knew this was also tough on Ashton “I’ll see you soon I promise”

“What have you guys even been doing?” Ashton seemed to calmed down a bit and Luke was just about to tell him what they did last night then Michael was coming up behind him ruffling his hair and yawning as he sat on the couch opposite of him and switched on the TV

“We uh…” Luke got lost with looking at how cute and cuddly he looked in the morning “We’ve just been hanging out..you know doing bro stuff” Michael instantly smiled and looked at Luke as he licked his lips

“Bro stuff huh?” Ashton let out a breath “He’s right there isn’t he?”

“Mhm” and Luke was glad his phone wasn’t one of those really loud ones

“Alright you’ll tell me all about it later. I get it. I’ll see ya bud” Luke was actually really looking forward to seeing Ashton even though it hadn’t been that long since he last seen him.

“Yeah you will. See ya”

“I love you” Ashton said in a girly tone that made Luke giggle

“I love you too” he hung up and looked over at Michael who was still smiling “Hi”

“Hi” Michael put his hands through his hair trying to fix it “Was that Ashton?”

“Yeah that was Ash” he sighed a bit “And I hate to say this but..”

“I get it Lukey” Michael smiled wide “You miss him”

“I’ll be back though…or maybe you could come over to my house?” Luke loved the idea of Michael being in his own house

“Yeah…” Michael did a shy giggle “Yeah I’d love to”

“And then you can hang out with me…and Ash?” Luke just really wanted Michael and Ashton to be friends. He knew they had a rough time in the past but he was hoping they could look past it. For Luke’s sake at least.

“For sure” Michael’s smile then faded a bit “I just want you to know Luke that I umm…I don’t dislike Ashton. I never did and if he’s willing to accept me then I’ll do the same”

“No I know. I’m actually more worried about Ashton…he just told me this story” Luke looked up to see Michael seeming to be a little scared “Nevermind”

“Luke come on you gotta tell me now” He sat forward looking interested

“We were at the arcade and I asked about you because I was…” Luke got a smile on his face remembering that day. He was just so curious about finding every detail about Michael that he could but he felt embarrassed to say it “I just liked talking about you so I would bring you up any chance I got…”

“Aww you’re blushing” Michael said reaching forward and rubbing Luke’s knee and that only made him blush more “I’m sorry. Continue”

“Well he just told me about this time that Calum gave him…a uh a swirly and he said” He could tell that Michael already knew where this was going “He said you just stood back and didn’t do anything about it”

“Shit” Michael mumbled leaned forward not looking at Luke “I was just a dumbass. I went along with whatever Calum did just because he was my only friend. I feel really bad about it Luke” Luke got up and sat next to him, getting close to his face

“I don’t blame you. We all do stupid shit when we’re young but it’s not up to me…”

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?”

“I know he will”

*

“Good luck in there” Michael said jokingly as he was pulled up next to Ashton’s house

“He probably won’t leave my side for the rest of the day”

“I wish I had that” Michael said quietly and Luke furrowed his eye brows at him

“You do. You have me” and Michael lit up and leaned over to give Luke a kiss

“You’re right. I do have you” he kissed his temple “I’m gonna miss you”

“I’ll miss you more Mikey” a loud pitched scream was heard from the front deck and Luke and Michael both jumped and looked to the right to see Ashton standing on the deck all excited then Luke looked back to Michael “I’ll call you tonight okay?” he kissed Michael one more time then opened the door after he nodded

“You better!” Michael shouted after him and Luke walked backwards not wanting to look away from his smile until he got to the front steps

“Get up here!” Ashton shouted. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and was just in his swim suit bottoms and Luke could tell he had just gone swimming “Did you just kiss him?” Luke began to blush and turned around to thankfully see Michael gone because he would have been embarrassed “You did!”

“So what” Luke said innocently as he fell into Ashton’s chest and Ashton instantly put his arms around him. He really did miss Ashton.

“So what? Come on. Tell me everything” He led Luke inside and they seemed to be the only ones here

“Where is everyone?”

“At the beach where I just came from” Ashton put his elbows on the counter and rested his chin in his hand “Now spill”

“We uh…” images from last night flashed in his mind “We just went to the boardwalk oh! And he got me to go on that big roller coaster that I never wanted to go on. It was actually really fun”

“So you’ll go on it now?”

“Yeah for sure. Then we went to the record store and just chilled in there for a little while and-“ Luke bit his lip “We just went home”

“Liar! You’re hiding something”

“I’m not” Luke shook his head but he knew he was a terrible liar

“Bullshit. You had sex with him didn’t you?” Luke’s face went beat red and he looked completely away from Ashton

“Did you get a new TV?”

“Don’t change the subject. Come on Luke I know you did”

“Okay I did!”

“Alright alright. Simmer down. So what’d you do? Give me the juicy details” Ashton smirked at him and Luke widened his eyes

“No way in hell. That’s private”

“Oh come on. I’ve told you about some of my sexual adventures” and Luke had to agree that Ashton had told him a few stories.

“He uh..sucked my dick” Luke said barely above a whisper

“What was that Luke?”

“You heard me” he said rolling his eyes

“I really didn’t actually”

“He sucked my..” he looked down and pushed his lips together “my dick” Luke didn’t know why it was so hard for him to say out loud but it just was. It also made him wish he was back in Michael’s bed.

“Nice!” He hit Luke on the shoulder “I’m so proud” he said wiping away a fake tear

“Wait you aren’t mad that I’m with Michael?”

“Of course not. I mean we got off to a rocky start but I’m willing to get along with him. I can just tell he means a lot to you” Ashton looked out the window “Ever since you got back you’ve had this glow about you…that Michael must of caused” Luke knew Ashton was right. He could feel it too. Whenever he was around Michael it was even stronger. Luke took a deep breath and walked over to the couch and Ashton followed him “So do you love him?” Luke put his face in his hands and nodded

“I almost told him I did last night but then I stopped myself. It’s just too soon to say it”

“Well he’d have to be fucking crazy not to love you back” Luke forced a smile “And if you get the urge to say it I think you should just go for it. It sucks to hold that shit in” and Luke trusted him. After all Ashton knew a lot more about relationships than Luke. Thoughts about Calum’s visit last night came into his head and he pushed them away. There was no way he could tell Ashton because he would probably never want Luke to go over to Michael’s house again. Besides, he didn’t exactly feel like discussing it.

*

“What’s your favorite animal?”

“A penguin…I don’t know. Why are you asking me this?” Luke said sitting up on his side resting on this elbows

“Why a penguin?” Ashton said in a tone that Luke just knew he was trying to be stupid

“Cause…They can slide on their stomach on the ice. It’s cool”

“Yeah I don’t think they actually do that. That’s just in the movies”

“Why-Why are you killing my dreams right now?” Luke said in a dead serious voice as he glared down at him

“That’s what I do Luke. It’s my mission to crush your dreams”

“Shut up” Luke said not being able to help the laugh that slipped out of him as he put sand on Ashton’s stomach. It was 1am and they were both lying on the beach taking sips of their beer. Ashton had already downed 3 of them of course but Luke was trying to pace himself and was only on his 2nd. The temperature was perfect with a slight breeze and the waves were so calm that watching them was about putting Luke to sleep. “Tell me what your favorite animal is”

“It doesn’t matter” Ashton used a bratty tone and Luke grabbed the beer that was in his hand and put it behind his back “Luke what’re you doing?”

“Come on just answer the question”

“Give me my beer back Lucas. I’m going to die of thirst if you don’t”

“Alcohol dehydrates you. If anything I’m hydrating you right now by keeping it from you”

“You aren’t hydrating me” the tone in Ashton’s voice had changed to a more serious one. Sometimes Ashton would get really serious when he was drunk and Luke never understood it “You’re just annoying me now give it back”

“Nope. Not until you answer the question. What are you too drunk to think of an animal?”

“Luke” Ashton blinked fast at him “I’ve had 3 beers”

“Why do you get like this?” Luke was genuinely asking and he had decided to cut the shit a little “You just randomly get super serious on me. It’s fucking weird”

“I don’t know what you’re even talking about” Ashton pushed himself up and rested his arms on his knees and Luke followed the motion.

“Ash” Now Luke had a much more softer sound to his voice.

“I just…” Luke perked up knowing that Ashton was going to explain himself a little “Sometimes I just get thinking about things that happened to me in the past…like certain words set off those thoughts off and they’re rarely ever good ones” and Luke could understand that. At certain times of the day things would remind him of Jack or times when Jack was still alive and he would start feeling like total shit. He just wondered what thing Ashton was talking about because it seemed like he was talking about something specific. “It happens more when I drink because-“Suddenly Ashton got very pale and it really scared Luke.

“Are you-are you okay?”

“Yeah” Ashton tried to pretend as if it never happened “Just never mind”

“Alright” he said quietly. Part of Luke wanted to pry and pry until Ashton told him what he was almost about to say but then he remembered how much he hated when people would pry at him. Whatever it was Luke decided that he would have to wait for Ashton to tell him on his own time. He reached behind him and grabbed Ashton’s beer “Here” Ashton gave him a weak smile then took a big swigs of it before putting it back down in the sand.

“So” Ashton raised his voice a little “The carnival is this weekend and it’s usually a good time-“

“It sounds like you’re asking me on a date” Luke said trying to bring the mood up again and it worked.

“You gonna cheat on Michael and come on a date with me Lukey?” The thought of cheating on Michael made Luke sick to his stomach but he knew Ashton was kidding so he chuckled a bit.

“I’ll go but can Michael come with us?”

“I don’t fucking care” Ashton said casually before taking finishing off his beer “Bring him along so I can give him ‘the talk’”

“What?”

“You know….the ‘If you break my best friends heart I’ll break your face’ talk…that talk”

“Are you gonna be sitting on the front deck with a rifle in your hand when he comes over too?”

“I might be” Ashton finally looked at him and smirked “Just keep the PDA to a minimum and we’ll be fine”

“I can’t make any promises”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is adorable

When Luke heard the front door bell he went running so fast down the stairs that he nearly tripped when he got to the bottom step. He knew it was Michael and he knew it had only been a couple days since he last seen him but every day felt like a year and he didn’t care if that seemed clingy or not. He just loved being around Michael so much.

“Hi” Luke said quickly after he opened the door. Michael’s whole face turned into a smile and he put his hands in this jean jacket pockets. He looked nervous but Luke thought it was adorable.

“Oh I uh” He stopped hiding the one hand that was behind his back “I brought you a smoothie” Luke carefully took it and he knew that nothing in the world could wipe off the smile on his face

“Come here” he reached out and grabbed Michael’s jacket, pulling him into the house and pressing their lips together. Michael kissed him back just as eagerly and put one hand on Luke’s hip and gave it a few rubs, just needing to touch him. Michael pulled back first when he heard footsteps, not wanting to overstep any rules Ashton might have. Luke was confused at first then he turned back to see Ashton walking into the kitchen “Michael is here” Luke said it less to let him know that Michael was there and more because he just wanted Ashton to be nice and say hi to him.

“Hi Michael” Ashton said in his normal happy voice and it made Luke smile. He just felt like this was going to be a really good day.  
A half a mile of the street in front of the beach was filled with carnie games and food venders and there was kids running wild everywhere. It had just gotten dark out so the street was lit up and in the distance you could see the roller coaster on the boardwalk going up and down hills. Luke didn’t think he had ever seen anything like it. Sure he had been to fairs in his old town but they were never as lively as this.

“Pretty cool huh?” Luke looked over at Michael and every time the lights would hit his face his eyes looked a different color.

“This is…amazing” Michael couldn’t stop smiling at him and Luke was loving it.

“Alright” Ashton said clapping and turning to them “Let’s go get a funnel cake first I’m fucking starving”

“You? A funnel cake?” Luke said genuinely confused.

“Shut up I can have a cheat day every once in awhile. This carnival comes once a year” He pointed a finger at Luke “I can have a damn funnel cake” and Luke put his hands up like he was surrendering and Ashton took off. Michael laughed quietly then softly grabbed Luke’s hand.

“He’s rather jumpy isn’t he?”

“You have no idea” Luke laughed and rubbed his thumb against Michaels “We better follow him but I promise we’ll sneak off later” at that Michael smiled wide and leaned over to kiss Luke’s cheek. They quickly caught up with Ashton and followed him to a small food truck with tons of pictures of sugar foods on the side of it and the smell was making Luke starving. He watched as Ashton leaned his arms on the counter and spoke loudly to the worker.

“Do you want something?” Michael said bumping into Luke and noticing him practically drooling over the menu.

“Oh. No I’m alright” Michael raised an eyebrow at him making Luke want to kiss him but he shook the feeling off “Well a deep fried Oreo sounds nice…” Soon Ashton was turning around with the funnel cake in his hand and already taking big bites out of it. Michael eyed it quickly then went to order what Luke wanted.  
They were slowly walking down the road just looking at all the kids running around as Luke and Ashton scarfted down their food

“Boy if you eat too many of those you’re gonna be hurtin’ tomorrow” Michael giggled as Luke was just finishing off his Oreo and Ashton was still going at his food.

“Try it” Luke said with his mouth full shoving it towards Michael’s mouth and Michael backed his head up a bit.

“No. Do you know how many calories are in that?”

“Jesus Christ, Am I the only one here who knows how to have fun?” Luke whined “Ashton is a health freak too”

“Yeah I know I was making fun of him” Michael grinned at Luke then giggled when he looked over at Ashton who had stopped chewing and was squinting at him

“You guys can go to hell” Ashton said throwing the rest of his food away.

“As long as there’s deep fried Oreo’s there I don’t give a fuck” Luke said and Michael was reaching out to grab the Oreo.

“Okay I’m me again I wanna try it” Luke handed it to him and watched him take a bite then practically roll his eyes in the back of his head.

“Holy shit that is heavenly”

“Ash you’re missing out” Luke teased but Ashton was distracted by something else

“Hey Michael” Ashton had a grin on his face and Luke watched him closely “I bet you I can beat your ass at this game” Michael and Luke both looked to the game he was pointing at. It had 2 sets of pins on each side and Luke guessed that the goal was to knock all of them down. He never had much of an arm when it came to throwing but he had no idea what Michael was capable of.

“Alright” Michael said casually then he gave Luke’s hand a squeeze before letting go of it and Luke watched him stroll over to where Ashton was standing “So what do I get if I win?”

“Oooooh” Ashton smirked at Michael and then Luke “You got yourself a cocky son of bitch here Luke” Luke just smiled wide and looked over at Michael. He had to admit that this over confidence side of him was really getting him going and he wasn’t sure why. Luke couldn’t help but bite his lip when Michael glanced at him and Michael had to of known that Luke was turned on by the way he was acting. “Alright. If I win its payback time and you’ll be getting a little wash in the porcelain Jacuzzi”

“You wanna give me a swirly?” Michael said in that same cocky tone as before and Ashton nodded “Fair enough. And if I win?” It was obvious that Ashton couldn’t think of anything so he just shrugged.

“Whatever you want man” Michael was thinking hard then his eyes found Luke. He smiled at him but it was a shy smile and he was back to his old self

“I don’t know what want from you” Michael said sort of quiet “I’ve already got everything I want” Michael hesitated a bit then winked at Luke and Luke swore it felt like he was the happiest he’s ever been. It was simple but it was one of those moments that he knew he would always remember ever little detail about.

“Oh come on” Ashton said rolling his eyes “Don’t get all mushy on me”

“If I win I guess I’ll just have the satisfaction of winning”

“Fine fine” Ashton grabbed one ball then handed the other one to Michael “Best 2 out of three?”

“Sounds good” For the first turn they both swung their arms back at the same time but Ashton threw his ball a little late only knocking down 3 of them but Michael got 4. Luke tried to see his face a little but could tell he wasn’t getting too excited just yet. Luke just enjoyed them existing together like this. When he first heard Michael speak outside that video store he never dreamed that they would be friends. Even though he personally felt very close to Michael already, Ashton was very distant from Michael and he could even tell that then from the little bit of contact they had. Luke snapped back into it just in time to see Michael knocking down all 5 pins this time and Ashton eyeing him as he looked at the 4 he knocked down.

“Shit” Ashton mumbled and watched the worker set up the pins one more time. Michael and Ashton both locked eyes right before hitting their pins at the same time and Luke held his breath close his eyes “Damn it!” then he heard Michel chuckle a bit and Luke’s eyes opened again to see Michael patting him on the shoulder

“Did you really want to give me a swirly that bad?” finally Ashton smiled at that and Luke walked closer to them, not wanting to ruin this moment but also needing to hear them better.

“Well…no. It’s just that you’ll probably hold this above my head forever”

“Nah dude” Michael got this look in his eyes and Luke was already smiling before he spoke again “How about you just forgive me and I won’t mention the time I beat your ass at the carnival ever again?”

“Okay deal” Ashton whined but there was a smile on his face. They shook hands and Luke wasn’t sure why but he felt as if he could actually cry at how perfect everything was right now. They both looked over at Luke and their smiles faded a bit.

“Luke you okay?” Michael spoke softly

“Yeah it’s just…” He looked back and forth at them “Can we just take a second to appreciate this moment?” Michael and Ashton both let out loud laughs and went running up to him each wrapping an arm around Luke’s shoulder

“What prize?” The worker said in a grumpy voice but none of them cared. Michael looked at all the prizes but not for long before he was focusing on Luke again

“Take your pick” Michael said grinning at him and Luke widened his eyes but it was so typical Michael

“But-but you won” Michael shrugged at his words and looked at him with so much love that Luke forgot that anyone else even existed. He had to force himself to take his eyes off Michael to look at the prizes up high but his eyes finally settled on a big blue bear. He felt a little childish for wanting it so bad but the fact that Michael was the reason he could have it made it seem so much more special “That one” he said pointing at it

“The bear?” Michael asked just making sure he was seeing the right one and Luke nodded and he just couldn’t stop blushing. This whole situation was so domestic and he never wanted this night to end. Michael took the bear then put it up to Luke’s face making the hairs tickle his skin. Luke started giggling again and held it to his chest as Michael watched his every move.

“Bear’s are not blue. That’s total bullshit” Ashton chipped in but Michael acted like he didn’t even hear him

“Well this one is” Luke beamed back holding it tighter.

“You’re so cute” Michael said not being able to help himself but as Luke looked up at him he could tell Michael meant to say it out loud. Luke leaned forward just needing Michael to hold him and wrapped his arms around his middle.

“Thank you” Luke wasn’t just thanking him for the bear. It went a lot deeper than that and Michael knew it

“You’re welcome Lukey boy”

*

“I feel a little bad about this…I mean Ash is gonna turn around after getting another funnel cake and we’ll be gone”

“I think he’ll survive” Michael said having a hold on Luke’s hand as they walked down the boardwalk “God I love it down here at night”

“It seems weird because it’s so empty”

“Yeah everyone is down there” They both stopped at the end of the board walk and looked down at the carnival. The only sound was the faint voices in the distant and the waves hitting the wood planks underneath them. They both leaned against the railing and Luke put his head on Michael’s shoulder as he let out a breath. Michael wrapped one arm around his waist and pulled him closer as they both just watched all the crowds of people.

“Tonight was just…a really good night. I don’t really want it to end”

“Yeah but we’ll have lots more just like it. I promise” Michael kissed the top of Luke’s head then looked down at the stuffed elephant that Luke was still clinging onto and shook one of his legs “What’re you gonna name this little dude?”

“Hmm” Luke just wanted him to have a name that had something to do with tonight but his mind was going blank “Maybe…Carnie” Michael giggled a little then rubbed one of his fingers against Luke’s hip bone.

“Carnie. I like that” Suddenly Luke turned himself around and got in front of Michael as Michael rested his hands on the railing behind him and Luke shyly looked down as he put both hands on Michael’s sides, bringing him closer. Michael moved head forward first and gently began kissing him as one hand was on Luke’s back and the other tangled in between his fingers. Luke let out a soft moan when Michael took one of his hands and put it on Luke’s cheek, slowly running his thumb against his skin and Luke began to think that it was a good thing the railing was there to hold him up. Even the simplest acts from Michael made him go weak at the knees but he knew that Michael would always catch him. Michael leaned back first and was just staring at Luke without saying a word. He couldn’t decipher what he was thinking but he knew it was something good by the faint smile on Michael’s face then be brought his hand up to Luke’s face again and began rubbing the backs of his fingers on his cheek and Luke closed his eyes for a second at how soothingly he was doing it “God, you’re so perfect” he whispered it almost too quiet for Luke to even hear but he did and for a second Luke was unsure if he was even breathing. He swallowed hard and just moved his eyes all over Michael’s face not even knowing how to form words. The only words going on in his head was “I love you” and he thought back to Ashton’s advice although this just didn’t seem like a good time to say it but he knew he had to do something so he dove forward bringing their lips together as he gripped both his hands on Michael’s neck and kissed him back roughly but Michael kissed him back with just as much force. Luke got brave and stuck his tongue inside Michael’s mouth first and heard Michael let out a little whimper as they both began to breathe heavier.

“Hey kids!” They both jumped and turned their heads towards the voice “You can’t be up here!” Michael still had his hands on Luke’s back holding him close but Luke had let his hands slide down to Michael’s chest

“Sorry! We’re leaving” Michael let out a little laugh then looked back over at Luke whose face was a little red “To be continued?” Luke nodded fast before giving him a peck on the cheek.

*

Once they got back down to the carnival there was a lot less people and they began searching all over for Ashton. They figured it would be a lot easier to find him but they were almost to the end of the road and he was still nowhere in sight.

“I’m going to call him” Luke said getting out his phone as he began to get a little worried.

“Wait” Michael put his hand on Luke’s phone and Luke looked up to see him staring off into the distance with a terrified look on his face.

“Michael?” Luke stepped forward to get in this line of vision but Michael just moved his head to look past him. Finally Luke turned around to try and look where Michael was looking but he didn’t see anything “Michael do you see him?” Michael slowly began to nod and Luke seen that he was shaking a bit so he put his hands on Michaels arms and turned around again to see the crowd spreading out a bit and then he seen what Michael was seeing and Luke could feel his heartbeat in his throat. There Ashton was standing there calmly with his hands in his jacket pockets as Calum stood in front of him doing all the talking and Luke was ready to fight him. He really was. He wasn’t going to let Calum hurt Ashton again and he knew he had to do something about it this time. Luke took a few steps forward then Michael was getting in front of him and putting his hand on his chest.

“It’s okay It’s okay” Michael said as he tried to calm him “Calum won’t do anything in an open area like this. Nothing’s going to happen” Luke let out a breath and Michael went back to looking over at them too.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Luke said quietly as Calum was still just talking away and Ashton now had his arms crossed.

“Calum seems like…normal. I don’t know this is freaking me out. Look at how nice he’s being” and Michael was right. Calum kept smiling every once in a while then Ashton would do a weak smile back at him. Calum stepped a little closer to Ashton and Luke tensed up as if Calum was stepping closer to him and not Ashton. Luke just watched as Ashton’s eyes flickered down to the ground a bit then back up to Calum then Calum lightly rubbed a hand on his arm and walked past him leaving Ashton staring down at the ground.

“What the fuck” Luke whispered slowly and Michael had his fingers in his hair as his mouth was partially open in shock “What was…what was that?”

“I’ve never seen him act like that…like ever”

“Let um…Lets go talk to him” Luke said quickly and he was taking off towards Ashton with Michael right behind him. As they got closer Ashton was still looking down at the ground with a sad look on his face and Luke shook him a bit to snap him back into it “Hey. You alright?” Ashton quickly looked up and put a fake smile on his face then laughed like Luke just said something incredibly stupid.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Cut the shit” Luke said coldly and Michael took a double look at him because of the drastic change in his voice “We saw Calum talking to you. What the fuck did he say?”

“Nothing. Let’s go home okay?”

“Nothing? Are you serious Ash? We seen you guys. It obviously wasn’t ‘nothing’”

“Can you just fucking drop it Luke? Jesus Christ” Ashton was very aggravated now and Luke watched him walking away and looked back at Michael in a questioning manor but he look just as confused.


	10. Chapter 10

When they got back to Ashton’s house he was chugging down a bottle of beer in the kitchen but glared right at Luke.

“Umm can Michael stay over?” Luke said cautiously knowing that he had pissed Ashton off.

“I don’t care” Ashton mumbled before practically running up the stairs. Luke could tell Ashton didn’t want to be around him and it made him feel really sick. They hadn’t ever been mad at each other and Luke actually couldn’t remember a time when Ashton was taking something this serious.  
Even though it was only the 3 of them in the house Michael and Luke decided to sleep in the guest room on the main floor and they were both slipping into bed and under the covers. For a while neither of them said anything, they just laid there staring up at the ceiling.

“That was like…super weird right?” Luke finally said

“Incredibly weird”

“Like why was he getting so worked up about it?” It was more of Luke just trying to figure it out himself. He knew Michael didn’t have the answer. Michael rolled on his side and faced Luke.

“He’s never like this is he?”

“No. Never. He’s always really happy and doesn’t take things too seriously but lately…I don’t know something has been off” Luke tried to not let it bother him too much at this moment because he had this beautiful boy lying in front of him and he got a smile on his face

“What’re you smiling about?” Michael said playfully

“You know if I remember right…” Luke got closer to him and put one hand under Michael’s shirt “I still owe you a blowjob”

“Luke” Michael moaned from either the thought of it or from Luke slowly lowering his hand down to his dick, Luke wasn’t sure but he pushed Michael on his back and sat on top of him so he was straddling him then bent down to begin slowly sucking at Michael’s neck and reached one hand to palm at his dick. Michael brought both his hands up to Luke’s hips and started lifting his shirt off and Michael did the same and shivered a bit when Luke started rubbing his hands up and down his chest just admiring him then putting kisses all over his stomach while slipping his jeans off. Luke decided to get right down to business and quickly took off Michael’s boxers off and felt like the air had been sucked out of him when he looked down at his dick. It was all his and he could do whatever he wanted with it. Even though he had never done this before he didn’t want to tell Michael that, feeling a little embarrassed about it but he just figured he would do what he would want done to himself. He started kissing Michael’s thighs then looked up to see Michael gripping his own hair and closing his eyes. Luke then wrapped his fingers around Michael’s dick and just began to suck on the tip not wanting to get too ahead of himself and he heard Michael let out a little whimper. He started moving his hand a little faster and also moving his mouth down further and he felt Michael reach down to put his hand in his hair, just putting his fingers through it and still making quiet moans. Luke quickened the pace even more and took even more in his mouth, pushing himself right to his limit and using his tongue a bit earning a louder moan from Michael “Oh fuck. Just like that Luke” he whispered and the way he was talking got Luke going even more so he moaned himself making Michael want to jerk up but he forced himself not to and instead just pulled tighter on Luke’s hair. Luke’s jaw was starting to get a tad sore but he didn’t even think about stopping, instead he started using his tongue more and went back to just the tip as he licked around it as one hand was rubbing up Michael’s thigh and the other on his dick “Fuck this is so good. That’s my boy” Luke felt like he come just from hearing Michael call him his boy and he quickly went back down taking as much as he could again and started going fast right away which resulted in Michael coming down his throat almost instantly. Luke swallowed it all then smirked up at Michael who was breathing heavy with a smile of his own, looking down at Luke. Luke laid on top of him kissing his neck and Michael tightly wrapped his arms around him as he kissed the side of his face.

*

Luke was woken up by the sound of the fridge slamming shut and footsteps going back up the stairs and memories from the carnival came flooding back to him. He looked back down at Michael who was fast asleep and he just looked so beautiful. Luke softly kissed his lips then his cheek and forehead a few times before he carefully got off of him and stepped onto the floor. He looked back to see if Michael was still asleep then went walking out of the bedroom. The only sound was the fridge running and the only reason he could see was because of the air freshener light in the corner of the living room. He made it up the stairs then seen TV flashes coming from inside of Ashton’s bedroom. He stopped at the doorway then Ashton looked not surprised at all. He must have known Luke heard him get up.

“Can I come in?” Luke was still being careful around him but Ashton nodded casually and focused back on the TV. Luke sat on the other side of the bed resting his back against the headboard but didn’t know how to start the conversation “So can you talk to me? You know about what happened” He didn’t use an angry tone this time knowing that it had made Ashton shy away from him before.

“If you would have asked me nicely before I would have told you” Ashton still wasn’t looking at him.

“I know. I’m sorry. I was just shocked. You can’t blame me for freaking out” Luke laughed a bit but he wasn’t sure why. Ashton didn’t even crack a smile and he almost always did when Luke would laugh.

“He apologized” Ashton’s voice got deeper and Luke just sat there staring at the side of this face.

“What?” Luke had heard him loud and clear but he still couldn’t believe what Ashton had just said.

“He apologized for-for everything. I don’t know why but it seemed sincere”

“I can’t fucking believe this” Luke said quietly to himself “Well I mean what did he say exactly?”

“He just said he was sorry for how he treated me and a bunch of other stuff that we never even –“Ashton stopped himself then let out a deep breath “He just said sorry”

“What other stuff? I thought you…I thought you told me the whole story between you two”

“Yeah well I didn’t” Ashton said after a quick pause and Luke was just so confused. He wished he wouldn’t have come to talk to Ashton at all.

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“I just-“ Ashton finally looked at Luke with a softer look in his eyes and shook his head “I just can’t Luke”

*

Three days later Luke was back at his house and hadn’t been at Ashton’s since the day after the carnival. It was hard for him to be around Ashton because he was so jumpy about everything and the littlest things would set him off. Luke just figured he needed some time on his own and in a few days this would all be fixed. That was the overly positive side of Luke’s thinking but the realistic side knew that whatever was bothering Ashton was under the skin deep. It wasn’t just something he would instantly get over. It would take something drastic to change his way of thinking about this and Luke wish he knew a way to help. But it was a little hard to offer any support when he didn’t even know what Ashton was upset about. Calum apologized and Luke thought that would be a good thing. He didn’t understand how it actually made things way worse for Ashton. Luke had sent Ashton a few texts but he would either send very vague responses back or not respond back at all. He hadn’t sent any to Ashton today and it was already 6pm. He talked to Michael on the phone for a few hours but he couldn’t stop bringing up Ashton so he figured he would spare Michael his sob story and just tell him he would text him tomorrow and Michael understood. He understood why this was beating Luke up so bad. Luke was a bit surprised when he looked down to see his brother giving him a call but figured he should answer it. If anyone could help him it would be Ben.

“Hi” Luke said blandly

“Hey kid! How’s the California treatin’ you?”

“It’s umm treating me pretty well actually. I love it”

“You been busy with friends or something? Mom says you haven’t been home much”

“Well I’m home right now” Luke wasn’t saying it to be snotty. He was just letting him know that he actually was home at the moment.

“Alright alright” Ben chuckled a little “You seem really down. What’s up Luke?”

“It’s nothing” He said automatically but then he remembered all the times people had said that to him when he asked what was wrong “It’s just Ashton…my friend Ashton has been acting really weird lately and I just…I don’t know it’s fucking with me”

“Do you have any idea of what could be bothering him?”

“No. He won’t’ tell me anything and the more he stays silent about it the more I feel like I’m losing him. He was my first friend here and I can’t lose him”

“Well Luke I think you need to tell him exactly what you just told me. You gotta let him know that its eating away at you and that you genuinely want to know what’s wrong with him”

“I sort of tried once before but he just instantly put a wall up. He just wouldn’t talk to me”

“Well it’s all about timing too. Like don’t just ask him when you guys are sitting there casually eating breakfast or something. You have to pick the right time and just shut off the TV…Do whatever you have to do to get his full attention”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right. I’ve been asking him at weird times. I even asked him about it over the phone yesterday”

“Nope. You got to talk to him about it in person” there was a pause and Luke didn’t know what to say so he let out a breath “So anyone else I need to know about?” Luke could tell he was smiling.

“Well there’s Michael” Luke blushed when he thought about him “But he’s sort of more than a friend”

“Oh my god. So what’s he like?”

“He’s just-“ Luke was finding it hard to only use one specific word since Michael was so many wonderful things “He’s perfect. I don’t know how I got so lucky but how we met isn’t exactly a story meant for a fairy tale” Ben laughed at that.

“Well tell me about it”

“It’s a super long story plus I don’t want you to worry about me”

“What do I need to beat someone’s ass?”

“Hmmm” Luke got thinking that he wished Ben was here to teach Calum a lesson but decided that maybe Calum was changing. He hoped that thing with Ashton wasn’t a big joke. That thought made him sick to his stomach “No uh..No it’s fine. Everything is fine”

“Well alright and just call me if you ever need anything okay?"

“Okay” Luke relaxed a little “I miss you”

“Miss you too bud. I’ll see ya”

“Bye” Luke said softly and he fell back into the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FOLLOW ME ON TUMBLR: Clifford-Affliction


	11. Chapter 11

Things were getting better and better with Michael but were seeming to get worse with Ashton as days went by. Luke stopped by his house a couple times but sometimes Ashton wouldn’t even invite him in. Luke couldn’t help but wonder if he did something wrong and that this whole thing wasn’t even about Calum at all. Michael kept telling Luke that he was crazy for thinking that and that he couldn’t of possibly done anything to make Ashton this upset but Luke still had those thoughts come to him late at night when he had way too much free time to think. If Luke didn’t have Michael he didn’t know what he would do. Michael helped him forget about the whole thing and just focus on him and being happy and Luke was so happy when he was with Michael. Sometimes it scared him how dependent he had become on him.

“Luke you alright?” Michael was rubbing his fingers through the back of Luke’s hair and Luke began to crumble. It was as if everything that had happened these past few days was hitting him all at once and he couldn’t do a single thing to stop the tears from coming “Shit Lukey. Come here” Michael got closer to him putting one arm around him then Luke sunk down and laid on his chest. Michael was putting his fingers in Luke’s hair again as he put kisses on top of his head and Luke was able to stop the whimpers that were coming out of his mouth and just settled on the silent crying. Then Michael got down lower on the bed so that he was face to face with Luke and started using his thumbs to wipe away the tears then giving him kisses on the cheek.

“I’m sorry for crying” Luke always felt bad for crying in front of people no matter what.

“Luke you don’t have to apologize” He said softly giving him another kiss “I just hate seeing you like this…I wish I could help”

“You do” Luke quickly said “When I’m not with you I’m a total wreck. You make everything better” Luke got a warm feeling in his stomach when Michael actually began to blush as he smiled at him and Luke had to lean forward and kiss him “It’s just that everything sort of hit it me all at once tonight. It was nothing you did. It’s just my thoughts getting the best of me again”

“I wish Ash would just talk to you” Michael’s soft look faded a bit “It’s really pissing me off how he keeps pushing you away. I don’t get how something can be that bad where he just can’t tell you”

“I don’t understand it either. He has to know that I wouldn’t judge him…whatever it is” Luke thought back to what Ben said about finding the right time to talk to him and when he turned around to look at the clock he just had a good feeling about talking to him right this second “I umm” Luke backed up a bit then quickly got off the bed “I have to go talk to him…I just have this feeling that I really need to talk to him right now”

“Okay well” Michael’s mind was running fast “Well do you want me to come with you?” and Luke did. For one even though it was only a few blocks walking at night scared him a little bit and also he could really use the support but there was another factor involved

“I do but…what if Ashton doesn’t tell me whats going on just because you’re there? I mean it seems to be a pretty big secret”

“Yeah” Michael smiled “You’re right. At least let me drive you there-“

“No I can walk. I’ll be fine I promise” Michael gave him a worried look then Luke smiled and leaned down to kiss him “I’ll be okay. I just need more time to think. Walking gives me more time”

“Alright” Michael gave him one last kiss then Luke was standing up again “Just text me when you get there okay?” Luke nodded quickly and then stopped at the doorway.

“Wish me luck”

“If he doesn’t tell you then I’ll just have to beat it out of him” Michael joked and Luke couldn’t help but giggle then he was walking towards the front door.  
As Luke stood right in front of Ashton’s house it seemed different to him. It felt like he wasn’t welcome since Ashton never wanted him to come over and also because he had no idea Luke was even coming but Luke wanted it that way. This way Ashton had no time to think of an excuse of why Luke couldn’t come in and as he was struggling to think of one Luke would just have to push past him and walk in anyways. Luke didn’t want to do that because it felt rude but if he had to he would. He quickly shot a text at Michael letting him know he was there and waiting for Michael to text back was just an excuse for Luke not to go in yet so he waited. He was nervous, he really was.

*Michael*  
_Good luck Lukey_

Luke swallowed hard then shoved his phone back in his pocket knowing that he couldn’t stand out here forever contemplating whether or not he should really go through with this. If he stood out there too long he knew that he would back out so he quickly made his way up the stairs and took a deep breath before loudly knocking on the door. A bunch of lights in the house were on so he knew Ashton was awake and he nervously stared at the door waiting for it to be opened. Luke jumped a bit when it did begin to open revealing the light from the house and Ashton stood there shirtless with only board shorts on but it was obvious that he didn’t wake up. He didn’t have sleepy eyes at all.

“Luke” Luke could instantly see that he was panicking and it scared him to know why “What-what’re you doing here?”

“We really need to talk okay? I can’t fucking stand this anymore Ash” He closed his eyes for a second to try and calm himself down but it didn’t work “If you don’t want me around anymore just fucking say it! I’m sick of you being an asshole all the time and not knowing what the fuck crawled up your ass so I’ll happily get out of your life if you continue to be like this” Luke finally stopped to really look at Ashton and his eyes were widened like he had just witnessed an entire world war

“Fuck Luke. It’s not you okay? It’s not about you at all. It’s me. I’ve got my own shit going on right now-“ There was a loud sound from inside the house that made Ashton instantly turn his head towards it then his nervousness set in again “It’s just-“ Ashton was again focusing on something inside the house “It’s just not a good time right now alright? Just come by tomorrow and I promise we’ll talk” Luke noticed that now he was talking much more quieter

“Why the fuck are you whispering? Who’s in there?”

“It’s-It’s Harry” Ashton shrugged but Luke knew that wasn’t true

“You said Harry and Lauren were at your aunts house Ash”

“Well she dropped him back off. He didn’t want to be there” Luke just stood there eyeing him and all he seen was how anxious and fidgety Ashton was being. There had to be a reason behind it. Luke looked to the right acting like he was backing down but then he was quickly pushing past Ashton, stepping into the house and he had a smile on his face. That was until he seen the person who was sitting on the couch. He felt like all the air had been sucked out of him and all he wanted was Michael to be there with him. He felt so unsafe and he knew the shaking he was experiencing was visible “Luke” Ashton said quietly as he stood in front of him but Luke could still see him sitting on the couch. He seen Ashton rub his face out of the corner of his eye “Just let me explain okay? There is a very reasonable explanation for this”

“What-what the fuck is he doing here?” Luke was raising his voice again and Ashton jumped

“You don’t know the whole story-“

“Oh obviously! Obviously I don’t know the whole fucking story because I can’t think of a single reason why this asshole would be in your fucking living room!” Luke eyes left Ashton again as he seen Calum getting up from the couch and as he walked forward images from when Calum beat on him in the ally came to him all at once and Luke backed up. The memories were so clear that he felt like it was actually going to happen again “Don’t! Don’t come any closer to me” Luke yelled to Calum, his voice cracking and he actually seen Calum crumble a bit. Luke had never seen him even show an ounce of emotion but there was sadness all over his face and Luke could feel it.

“We’re just talking…trying to make sense of shit” Ashton said calmly as he seen Luke backing down a bit. Luke looked back over at Calum who had this glow about him that didn’t even seem natural and the scary part was that he was looking at Ashton as he face looked like this. He seemed like an entirely different person but there was no way in hell Luke had forgotten about the old one.

“Why?” Luke whined as he talked much quieter “Why now?” Ashton got nervous again and looked to Calum for answers so Luke looked at him too even though it was hard to.

“After the night I came walking into Michael’s house drunk I went to jail. One of his neighbors called the cops” Luke held his breath the entire time Calum talked and he wasn’t sure why it made him feel safer “It just got me thinking that I literally fuck up everything. I don’t have anyone because of the way I act and I knew I couldn’t let things from the past have an impact on how I am now” Luke could breathe again and he looked over to see Ashton with a big smile on his face while he looked at Calum

“Can I…” Ashton spoke way too nicely to Calum and it made Luke upset “Can I tell him everything? I think we owe it to him” Calum glanced down at the floor a second and took a breath in before he nodded at Ashton

“Yeah. You can tell him” Calum smiled and Luke tensed up again “But I don’t wanna be here when you do” He laughed then focused on Luke before reaching a hand out “We good?” once again Luke became very angry (His temper was very short because of Calum being so close to him). He just couldn’t imagine how this little talk could mean they were just okay and Luke would forgive him that easily.

“You kick the shit out of me for no reason, come running into Michael’s house trying to do it again and then you come up with some shitty sob story and all of a sudden I’m just going to forget about everything? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Luke” Ashton scolded him quietly but Calum just nodded at Luke’s words

“No it’s okay. I get it. Forgiving someone isn’t that simple” he looked over at Ashton “I’ll call you tomorrow” Luke made a disgusted face that he knew Ashton caught then stepped way over so Calum could walk past him without being near him. As soon as the front door shut Luke glared at Ashton

"I’ll call you tomorrow’? Seriously?”

“Just-“ Ashton was extremely overwhelmed and Luke could see it “Just sit down Luke” Luke did as he was told then Ashton sat across from him as he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked like he was about to lose it any second and Luke began to regret how much he had freaked out. It had only made matters worse and he could see that now.

“I’m sorry-I just can’t believe that he was here…I never thought in a million years that he would ever be in your house” Ashton was still trying to calm himself down.

“It scared me Ash. I seen what he did to you before”

“I know. I’m sorry” He had his face in his hands now so his voice was muffled “I’m sorry this doesn’t make sense to you and I’m sorry you thought the way I was acting was your fault” He picked his head up and Luke’s heart skipped a beat when he seen his swollen eyes “You’re my best friend and you have to know that I’m awful at dealing with my emotions. It was easier for me to just sit at home and sulk instead of inviting you over and be worried the entire time that I was going to snap at you or say the wrong thing”

“Whatever it is I promise I won’t judge you”

“Yeah you will. You’ll judge me big time. It’s way worse than him being in my house”

“Okay can you please just tell me already? You’re scaring the shit out me Ashton” Ashton bit his lip before taking a deep breath in and looked down at the carpet

“Okay well It all started in 5th grade. Me and Calum were friends back then and they were playing spin the bottle at party and yeah…I’m sure you can guess what happened next”

“What you kissed some girl he liked or something and he got mad?”

“No” Ashton huffed “I kissed…him. We had to it was for spin the bottle”

“Okay” Luke made himself seem calm but he really wasn’t “This isn’t so bad. Please continue”

“Well here’s where it gets worse…I liked kissing him” Ashton quickly looked up to see Luke’s expression but wish he wouldn’t of “So I told him that I did and that was when he started treating me like shit and it went on until 9th grade”

“What happened in 9th grade?” Luke sat forward as if someone was telling him a ghost story and he wanted to know whether the person got murdered or not. He was very interested but also scared at the same time

“I lost my virginity in 9th grade and to Calum out of all people” Ashton got nervous again when he seen Luke putting his face in his hands and shaking his head

“No no no. Ashton why?”

“We were both really drunk…I don’t know. Then afterwards he told me he loved me and even though I wanted to hear that from someone so badly I didn’t believe him. I just told myself that it was the alcohol talking and that he didn’t really mean it”

“Did he mean it?”

“I’m not sure but he just assumed that I believed him so he went back to picking on me all the time. In high school it was all just verbal abuse instead of the physical stuff. Before our little run in outside the video store he hadn’t hit me since middle school”

“So how do you feel about him now?”

“Sometimes I felt like I had shut the feelings off for good but I um…” Ashton shook his head and turned away from Luke again “But I don’t think I ever did” Luke was so overwhelmed and he could see how worried he was making Ashton feel. He knew that Ashton just wanted him to understand and even though he didn’t he just had to let him know that he wasn’t mad anymore.

“So you’re into guys” Luke said in a cheeky voice that made Ashton smile then Luke pointed to himself “And I’m into guys so why haven’t we been sucking each other’s dicks since day one?” Ashton was dying laughing now as he leaned back on the couch “That’s what I’m upset about Ash”

“You’re right Luke you’re right” Ashton said between giggles

“But we can’t anymore you know cause I’m no longer single” Luke said quickly and Ashton was just nodding “So you missed your window. The moment is passed now”

“I really missed out didn’t I?”

“You did” Luke said sitting back and crossing his arms. Ashton laughed a bit more then wiped his eyes.

“So you’re okay with this?”

“Well what exactly is ‘this’? like are you guys going to date or what?”

“I don’t really know…I guess we’re just trying to take it one step at a time. We sort of have to become friends again before anything else you know?”

“Does he know you…still like him?”

“Well no. He doesn’t. I just don’t want to put too much shit on him all at once”

“Jesus” Luke said rubbing his face, still in utter shock “I never would have guessed that you actually like Calum Hood. This is…insane” then Luke was laughing again

“You know Michael almost came over here with me tonight…do you think that would have made things worse or better?”

“That probably would have been worse…although I wouldn’t have had to explain myself twice if he were here right now”

“Shit…So I can tell him right? I mean he knew I was coming over to get some answers and I can’t lie to him”

“Yeah…” Ashton thought on it for a second “You can tell him”

“Actually no” Luke said sitting up “I think you should tell cause I mean I still don’t even understand it myself…so you have to tell him” and Ashton smiled but was nodding

“Fine…how about we make Calum tell him?”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Well it’s either that or you tell him Luke…I don’t know if I have the energy to explain it again. Besides he barely even knows me”

“Fine I’ll tell him” Luke stood up just sort of wanting to be away from Ashton at this time “But I’m not going into the details”

“Fine” Ashton giggled “How about you guys come over tomorrow? We can all hang out”

“Like you mean Calum too?”

“Yeah” Ashton shrugged “Why is it too soon?”

“A little yeah” but then Luke began thinking that he had to warm up to Calum eventually so why not get it over with? “But I’ll talk to Michael about it…see what he thinks”

“Fair enough” Luke nodded then turned around to go out the door “Oh and Luke” Luke took his hand off the door knob and focused on Ashton “Thanks for listening”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this late update. My 5sos concert was this past wednesday and I was really overwhelmed and I still have very bad PCD but I'm doing a tad better so I figured I would get my mind to think about other things and write another chapter

“Can we just not do this? There’s still time to back out and we can just go home and cuddle” Michael said in his adorable tone and Luke was really wanting to give into his offer but he also promised Ashton they would come over.

“We can cuddle when we get back” Luke wiped some of Michael’s hair off his forehead “We just gotta do this though. I promised”

“I still don’t understand how this happened” Michael said putting his face in his hands and getting overwhelmed again just like he did when Luke first told him about Calum and Ashton, which had only been a few days ago. Ashton wanted them to come over that very next day but Michael just wasn’t ready to see Calum. He still wasn’t. Luke wrapped his arms around Michael’s shoulders, bringing him into his chest then softly kissed his hair.

“I’m not going to make you go in there Michael if you don’t want to. I’ll just go and you can another time when you’re ready” Luke felt Michael shake his head then he leaned back to look at Luke

“I’m not letting you go in there by yourself Luke” Michael turned away from him and looked out the window at Ashton’s house “But if he does or says one thing that is out of line we’re leaving alright?” Luke nodded knowing that the anger wasn’t directed at him and that Michael was just wanting to protect him. They both got out of the car and Luke met him on the sidewalk and grabbed Michael’s hand and it seemed to calm them both. When they got up to the door Luke knocked 3 times and there was still no answer

“Ashton what the fuck” Luke muttered to himself “I told him we were coming” Michael began to get a little fidgety and looked behind them a few times and Luke twisted the door knob and pushed it open. The house was almost completely quiet except for some voices that we’re coming from the backside of the house. Luke gave Michael a questioning look then followed the noise. They made their way through the kitchen and then the back room and stopped at the sliding glass door that led to the deck. They both froze and looked down to see Calum jumping in the pool and Ashton lounging in one of chairs just smiling at him. Something about the way Ashton was looking at Calum made Luke just want to turn around and leave, not wanting to ever see them again.

“This is so fucking weird” Michael breathed out.

“I know” Luke knew exactly what he meant. It just seemed too unnatural and it almost made Luke feel sick. Calum started splashing the water around then he smirked and made sure he aimed straight at Ashton then Ashton quickly stood up as he was now drenched from head to toe but Luke didn’t see even a glint of anger on his face. He looked so happy and Luke still didn’t understand how he could just forgive Calum so easily, after all he had done to him. Michael was the one to open the back door and slip out grabbing ahold of Luke’s hand.

“It’ll be fine Lukey” Now it was Luke that was needing the extra push to face Calum and he knew he had no choice. He linked his fingers with Michael’s and gave him a slight smile then stepped outside. Ashton was now in the water with Calum and he was jumping on his back and bringing him underwater “Hey, how about you two get a room!” Luke was a bit shocked at how Michael was handling this but it did make him feel better about this whole situation. Michael was making it seem like it was more normal than it actually was

“Aye!” Ashton beamed up then shifted his attention to Luke as he pushed his wet hair back “I didn’t think you were ever going to show up” he said with a slight laugh

“Yeah well I didn’t want to” Luke grumbled but he felt bad when he seen what his words had done to Ashton “I mean I just didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. I’m tired”

“Nice save babe” Michael muttered sarcastically before giving Luke a kiss on the cheek then urging him to follow him down the stairs. As Luke got closer he could see Calum with his mouth under the water as he was eying Michael with an almost scared look on his face. Luke couldn’t quite decipher what Calum was feeling but he looked over to see Michael looking straight back at Calum

“Hey Mike” Calum said cautiously then Luke was looking at him again as he rested his head against the wall of the pool. All Michael did was nod then make his way over to Ashton who was getting out of the pool. Ashton was smiling but it quickly faded when he seen Michael’s glare. Luke was just as confused as to what was going through his mind

“Lukey go in the house for a second” Michael said making brief eye contact with him “I have to talk to Ashton” Of course Luke instantly assumed they were about to talk about him

“Wait what? Why?”

“It’s not about you” Michael said putting a soft hand on Luke’s arm then he got closer to him “I just don’t want you alone out here with him” Michael said urging his head towards Calum

“Jesus Christ” Ashton mumbled clearly annoyed and Luke got a little scared at how quickly Michael jerked his head back to glare at Ashton but then he gave Luke a pleading look to go in the house and Luke nodded then began walking up the stairs. Ashton took one glance at Michael then opened the door going into the basement as Michael followed in behind him

“Listen, the only reason I even came here today was to tell you that I really don’t think Luke being around Calum is a good idea” Michael crossed his arms taking a glance out the window as Calum was sitting on the edge of the pool with his back to them “He’s been through enough shit and I know being around Calum makes him nervous”

“Calum isn’t going to do anything to him alright? He wants to change, Michael” Ashton was a lot more calmer that Michael was which made Michael even more furious

“You don’t even fucking know what he is capable of! And Calum can say that he’s changed all he wants but I don’t believe it for even a split second”

“You haven’t even given him a chance Mi-“

“I am beyond giving him chances, Ashton!” Michael put his hand through his hair a few times and leaned against the pool table planning on calming down a bit “I…I think back to seeing Luke get in my car with his face all cut up and bruises all over and I just don’t want Calum anywhere near him ever again. He doesn’t deserve to have Luke’s forgiveness and it’s as simple as that” Michael looked up to see Ashton clenching his jaw and moving his eyes over Calum outside as he kept swallowing hard. Michael knew he was holding back tears

“What did he do to you?” Ashton said with a shaking voice and Michael rose his eyebrows in confusion “I just thought you of all people would want to give him a 2nd chance since he was your best friend but it seems like he did something to really piss you off. What did he do?”

“What did he do?” Michael was getting angry again “What did he-“Michael threw his arms up and quickly looked back to Ashton “He hurt the one person I love more than anything. That’s what he fucking did to me Ashton and you should hate him just as much as I do but you don’t’ cause you’re so infatuated by him that you aren’t even thinking about Luke’s safety. All you’re thinking about is yourself”

“That’s not true” Ashton said almost too quiet for Michael to even hear and Michael let out a sigh

“I’m obviously not forbidding you from seeing Luke and I would never do that but I don’t want him over here when Calum is here”

“What you don’t trust me to protect Luke if Calum ever did try something again?” it was the first time Ashton had raised his voice to Michael

“No I don’t” Michael said coldly “You didn’t exactly come to the rescue that night Calum was up in Luke’s face outside the video store. Who knows what would have happened if I wouldn’t have stepped in. Hell, I wasn’t even Luke’s friend back then and I still did something about it!”

“Okay I get it Michael. You’re the best thing that ever happened to Luke and I’m the piece of shit friend who doesn’t care about him. You’ve made your fucking point”

“I didn’t say that” Michael bit his lip and shook his head “I-“ suddenly the door to outside was opening and Calum was walking in with one hand in his pocket looking at only Ashton

“What’s uh…What’s going on?” Calum was being careful on his tone but Michael still couldn’t help but snap at him

“I really shoud resort that question back to you Calum…you know like what the fuck is going on with you and Ashton?”

“I feel really bad about what I’ve done…to all of you”

“Oh cut the shit”

“Michael” Ashton mumbled wanting him to stop lashing out at Calum

“You may have fooled him” Michael gestured to Ashton “But you aren’t fooling me Calum alright? You’ve pulled this type of shit on me before but I’m not falling for it this time”

“I’m not trying to pull anything on you Michael. I’m just sorry and I don’t expect you to forgive me but I don’t want us on bad terms either” Calum was staying incredibly calm and it was what scared Michael the most.

“Oh you don’t want us on bad terms?” Michael said in snotty tone “Well maybe you should of thought about that before you hurt Luke and then attempted to do it again a few nights ago”

“I wasn’t in the right mindset when I did all that. I’ve c-“

“Changed? No you haven’t” Michael said in almost a laughing tone “You’re exactly the fucking same Calum and I don’t want you near Luke ever again” Michael just stood there looking at a speechless Calum who kept opening his mouth but no words were coming out then Michael glanced at Ashton before leaving them alone in the basement.

*

“But you said it was going to be okay?” Luke said in a childlike voice as they were in the car. Michael had practically dragged Luke out of Ashton’s house without even a single explanation.

“After I seen Calum I didn’t want him to be around you. I don’t know I just lost it…I kind of snapped at Ashton too”

“What did you say to him Michael?” Luke was terrified to know the answer and regretted even asking the question.

“I gave him shit for not sticking up for you outside the video store that night. That um-“ Michael closed his eyes for a second and tried to get the sad look on Ashton’s face out of his mind “That really hurt him that I brought that up. I didn’t know he felt so bad about that”

“Michael” Luke sighed while rubbing his eyes and looked forward watching the street lights pass him not knowing if Michael was going to say anything back. He didn’t expect him to. Suddenly the car was coming to a stop in a parking lot next to the beach and Michael opened his car door without saying a word so Luke followed him as he walked towards the sand. Michael paused to take off his shoes and Luke wondered what he planned on doing but did the same none the less. They began walking again as the cold sand hit their feet and the sound of the ocean waves filled their ears and it was peaceful. Luke began to forget about everything as Michael took his hand urging him to sit down with him and then getting impossibly close to him as he wrapped one arm around his shoulder and used his other hand to wipe the hair out of Luke’s eyes as he looked back at him. Luke leaned forward burying his face in Michael’s neck and Michael began rubbing circles on his back.

“I just don’t want him to ever hurt you again” Michael whispered into Luke’s hair as he kissed it “I couldn’t bare the sight of him being near you, Luke”  
“Why does Ashton have to be friends with him?” Luke whimpered. He felt stupid for crying but he just felt so overwhelmed these past few days that he couldn’t hold it back any longer.

“I don’t know baby” Michael said calmly. He was just as confused about the matter as Luke was so all he had to give him was comfort. He didn’t know any of the answers either “Maybe he’s just confused” Michael began to lay down and Luke sat up for a second just so he could straddle Michael and then lay his head down on his chest. He felt so safe and wanted to just stay on this beach with Michael forever. Michael rested one hand on Luke’s back then put his fingers on the back of Luke’s head, twirling his hair a bit. Luke’s heart began to beat fast and he knew Michael could feel it.

“Michael” Luke spoke into his chest and leaned up to kiss his neck.

“hmm?”

“I love you” Michael’s hand froze and his breathing felt like it had stopped entirely but he quickly composed himself not wanting Luke to think there was anything wrong because there wasn’t.

“I love you so much Lukey” Michael took a deep breath in when Luke sat up and kissed his lips and Michael put his hands on Luke’s face, softly rubbing his thumbs against his cheeks “I was scared to say it. I’ve just never been this in love with someone in my entire life” Luke’s entire face turned into a smile and and leaned down kissing Michael again.

“Me either” he whispered against his lips


	13. Chapter 13

Michael was at the super market picking up a few things and he just about had to beg Luke to stay home so he didn’t find out about Michael’s secret plans that he had for them that night. He had planning it for weeks but finally decided that this was the right time. As he was picking up a can of pizza sauce he felt a hand on his shoulder and just about dropped it to the floor and wasn’t much happier when he turned around and seen who had touched him

“You’re rather jumpy Mike” He chuckled

“What the fuck do you want?” Michael said turned away from him

“Listen. Ash-“Michael eyed him “Told me what you said about not wanting me around Luke and I get it. I do”

“Do you really though?” Michael grumbled as he went to the other side of the aisle and started looking at the cans of pineapple

“Yeah” Calum said quickly “I do but Ashton really misses Luke-“

“I never said Ashton couldn’t see Luke” Michael said defensively as he turned to face Calum “I said I didn’t want Luke around you. All Ashton has to do is not hang out with you for one fucking day and then Luke can come over. Ashton isn’t the problem here. You are” Suddenly Michael got focused on a different topic and realized that he needed some answers “And what the hell is with you and Ashton anyways? You kick his ass, kick his best friends ass and then what you just apologize and suddenly everything is okay?”

“No” Calum said shaking his head and looking down “Everything isn’t okay but I’m trying to get it to where it is” He finally made eye contact with Michael before letting his eyes flicker to the right and then back “And I don’t just mean with Ashton. I mean with you too. I want us to be okay again”

“Yeah and what about Luke? I’ll only forgive you if he does”

“Well if you let him see me maybe he would” Calum said softly, watching his tone and Michael let out a sigh as he looked everywhere but Calum

“Fine. Another time though”

“Why not tonight?”

“Because” Michael said sternly “I have plans with Luke tonight”

“Well that’s funny” Michael jumped as Ashton rounded the corner as he spoke “Cause I texted Luke an hour ago and he said you guys didn’t have anything planned”

“That’s cause it’s a surprise” Michael tried not to blush as he said it

“Oh really? Where to?” Ashton crossed his arms and stood next to Calum

“You know that’s really none of your business” Michael turned his back on them and walked a few steps before feeling a little bad and mumbling a “I’ll see you guys around” and heading for the checkout lanes.

*

“What’s in the bag?” Luke said in an excited tone as he jumped up from the couch and followed Michael into the kitchen. Michael set the bag down and began taking the items out with a smile on his face hoping that Luke would just guess what they were making but he still looked confused

“I’m gonna make pizza for us babe”

“Wait” Luke eyes widened and Michael got all giggly “Are you making the special recipe kind that you were talking about?”

“Hell yeah” Michael grinned before taking the dough he had in the fridge and putting it on the counter “I got it from my Grandma last night”

“So that’s why you didn’t let me eat anything basically all day” Luke rolled his eyes

“I wanted you to be starving. Everything taste even better when you’re starving”

“Well it’s a good thing we’re cooking it now because I think I’m on the verge of death”

“Well after it cooks we’re gonna take it to go”

“What?” Luke whined and Michael gave him a quick kiss on the cheek “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see” Michael began laying the dough flat on the counter and spreading the sauce all over it then grabbing the packet of cheese right as Luke was ripping it away from him

“I wanna put the cheese on” Luke said in a child like voice as he already began to sprinkle it all over feeling Michael’s fond stare on him “At least give me a hint as to where we’re going”

“No way Luke” Michael started opening the can of pineapple “What do you want on your side of the pizza?”

“Ham please” Michael nodded then turned to get in the fridge again “Ashton texted me today” Luke said casually and Michael tensed up a bit before facing him again

“I know” Luke’s head shot up “I ran into him and Cal in the grocery store”

“What-what did they say?”

“I don’t know they just” Michael ran his hand through his hair “They wanted to hang out with us but I told them not tonight” and Luke nodded understanding him. Luke insisted on putting his own toppings on the pizza then Michael took out a packet of spice that was hiding in his cupboard and opened it having Luke smell it and Luke was practically drooling.

“That smells delicious”

“This my boy is the secret ingredient” Michael said in a proper voice that made Luke giggle

“Well what’s in it?”

“Oh a chef never tells”

“What will you get your fingers cut off or something if you reveal the big secret?”

“Exactly” then Michael let out a laugh he had been holding in for dramatic effect “Actually I honestly don’t even know what’s in it”

“Can I do the honors?” Luke said reaching out for the packet and instantly handed it over to him

“Just a little over the whole thing alright?”

“Now I’m scared I’ll fuck it up” Luke hesitated as he held the packet right above the pizza

“You’ll do fine Lukey” Michael watched his face instead of his hand as he sprinkled it all over the pizza and got a kick out of how serious Luke was taking this but then snapped back into it when Luke was looking up at him “Perfect”  
As soon as the buzzer on the oven went off Luke was sprinting into the kitchen with Michael dying laughing on the couch

“Jesus Christ Luke you could be a track star” Michael said rounding the corner into the kitchen as Luke was already hovering over the pizza on the counter and blowing on it wanting to eat it instantly but knowing he would burn himself “Let me cut it”

“Just let me have one bite please Michael” Luke begged putting his bottom lip out and Michael couldn’t resist

“Damn it. Fine. One bite!” Luke smiled knowing that he had won and quickly took a bite like he hadn’t eaten in weeks “Do you like it?” Michael chuckled as Luke was rolling his eyes back and letting out a moan

“So fucking good” Luke paused for a second as he looked to floor thinking of his next move and then he was darting off towards the living room with the pizza in his hand and laughing like a maniac.

“Luke come on!” Michael yelled running after him after realizing what he was doing and he stopped in the living room when he seen that Luke was nowhere in sight. He slowly walked down the hallway not wanting to scare Luke away then checked in every bedroom as he passed them “If you come out of hiding I’ll let you eat as many pieces as you want. I just wanted to eat them at…” then he stopped himself not wanting to give away the surprise “At the place we’re going to but its fine. I shouldn’t have starved you all day”

“You actually didn’t starve me all day” Luke snickered as he came around the corner finishing off the pizza “When you went into town I had some Mac & Cheese”

“Alright alright. I guess I deserved that” Michael said getting closer to him and Luke kept glancing at his lips. They always looked so kissable. Michael hesitated a bit as he looked back at Luke so Luke stepped forward and pressed his lips softly to Michael’s and put his hands on his waist as he pulled him closer. Michael wrapped his arms around his shoulders and got so caught up in the kiss that he felt like all he wanted to do was take Luke upstairs and forget all about the surprise he had for him but he know he couldn’t do that. He had really been looking forward to this so he backed up a bit only to put a few kisses on Luke’s cheek before smiling at him “Let’s get out of here. I promise you’ll love it”

*

They had been in the car for an hour and Michael could tell Luke was getting fidgety as he kept bobbing his leg up and down and chewing on his nails

“We’ll be there soon” Michael said putting a hand on his thigh and gently squeezing it. Luke put his hand over Michael’s and held it as he looked out the window, flicking his eyes over all the trees passing by. It was completely dark out and Luke loved being away from all the chaos of the city. It made him feel like he was back in Washington. He held his hand out of the window feeling the warm air as he leaned his head back in the seat and looked over at Michael just taking him in. Luke got a butterflies in his stomach as Michael rubbed his hand over his jaw and kept shifting his eyes from what was in front of him to what was on the left of him. As soon as he was knocked out of the little daze he was in he smiled and turned his head to Luke who still had his eyes on him. Luke bit his lip and was about to turn away out of shyness but forced himself to keep on looking at Michael as he prepared himself for what he was about to say.

“I’m so happy I met you, Michael” Luke could almost see the change in Michael’s heartbeat as he took a deep breath then he was putting the middle console up and putting his hand the back of Luke’s seat

“Come here” Michael said quietly and Luke moved over in his seat to where he was pressed up against Michael. He kissed his neck a few times then leaned his head against his shoulder “I’m so fucking happy I met you too Lukey. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me” Those words made Luke felt like he was going to cry and he realized it was because he was so happy in this moment. He wished him and Michael could just travel the whole country and live on the road just living day by day. Life just seemed so easy with Michael by his side. Luke pressed his face into Michael’s neck again and as Michael felt the wetness on his skin he instantly got worried “Baby are you okay?”

“Yeah” Luke said nodding quickly “I just love you so much. Sometimes is overwhelming how much I love you”

“I know exactly what you mean” Michael swallowed hard trying to choke back his own tears and kissed Luke on the head “I love you too, Luke”

*

Once they got to the destination and walked all the way up the cliff Michael just stood there and watched Luke as he was looking up at the sky just being so amazed by it all. He had his hands in the sweatshirt that belonged to Michael and he took a deep breath tasting the fresh ocean air on his tongue as he closed his eyes then finally looked back to Michael.

“Sliver point” Luke whispered “Thank you so much for this” he looked back up at the sky and shook his head in amazement and Michael got closer to him before sitting down and Luke instantly did the same. Michael wrapped arm around him like they had done at the beach then rested his head on his shoulder

“I’ve been wanting to take you here ever since you first mentioned it but I was waiting for the right time you know?”

“I love it so much” Luke said turning his face then putting a kiss on Michael’s forehead

“See that piece of property over there?” Michael said as he turned his body a bit to look behind them. Luke got lost in the way his eyes were shining from the moon then looked to where Michael was and nodded “Someday when I save up enough money I’m going to buy it and build us a house there then you can come up here anytime you want” Luke felt his cheeks burning from smiling so big and he leaned into Michael kissing all over his face and making him giggle

“I wanna help with building the house. That sounds fun” Michael thought about it for a second then shook his head

“You know what on second thought…maybe we’ll just pay someone else to build it. I wouldn’t want it like collapsing on us or something”

“What a horrid way to go” Luke said in a serious tone that had Michael laughing into his chest “But that sounds amazing. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you” Luke eyes went a little wide when he realized what just came out of his mouth not knowing how Michael would take such strong words but Michael already had a smile on his face when he took his face out of Luke’s chest and suddenly he was straddling Luke and pushing him backwards so that he was laying on the ground and Luke just stared up a him as he rubbed his hands up and down his thighs. Michael went to put one hand on Luke’s stomach then Luke was taking it in his hand and kissing the back of it and Michael could feel the blush on his cheeks as he leaned down and started kissing Luke with more love than he ever has before. Luke could feel the goosebumps on his skin and wrapped both arms around Michael’s back. Michael moved to his neck just dragging his lips against it before latching onto the skin right below Luke’s ear making Luke suck in air through his mouth and then Michael was moving back a little so that their noses were almost touching as they just stared at each other. 

“You’re so beautiful” Michael began putting quick kisses on Luke’s neck “So so beautiful” he whispered against his skin

“Not as beautiful as you are” He could feel Michael chuckle but he wasn’t even saying it to get a laugh out of him. He really meant it. “I mean it. Every since I first saw you at the beach” Michael took his face from Luke’s neck knowing that he wanted to look at Luke “I remember I kept finding myself looking over at you. I couldn’t look away and then when I seen you smile I swear I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I think I loved you from the very first moment I seen you” Michael was just speechless and then Luke was putting his fingers against his cheeks and wiping the tears away.

“I almost came and talked to you”

“What…You did?” Luke said widening his eyes

“Yeah” Michael looked away for a split second “But I figured Ashton had already said some bad things about me so I knew I would just end up making a fool of myself”

“Well…” Luke remembered the night perfectly

“What did he say?” Michael said laughing

“His exact words were ‘He’s just your typical asshole’”

“Ouch” Michael bit his lip but let out another laugh “Guess I deserved that”

“You’re not an asshole though. Nowhere close to one. Once Ashton knew that I trusted you then he did too. I don’t exactly know where you guys stand now though” Luke drifted off

“When I seen them in the grocery store for once I-“ Michael took a deep breath then kissed Luke’s cheek as he tried to comfort himself “I actually felt a little bad for Calum. He seemed like he genuinely wanted me to forgive him and I didn’t know how to react so I just left after saying a few hurtful words to him”

“Do you forgive him?” Luke asked softly, pushing the hair out of his face .

“Only if you do. The only reason I’m as pissed at him as I am is because he hurt you but don’t feel like you need to forgive him just for that reason. He did a really shitty thing to you” Luke flexed his jaw a bit and looked back up the stars rubbing his fingers through the hair on the back of Michael’s head.

“I think I do…I think I do forgive him” Luke thought back to the night he seen Calum in Ashton’s house “When I went to Ashton’s house that night Calum was there he reached his hand out to me wanting us to be okay but I didn’t take it and he looked so hurt. Probably the same hurt that you seen on his face at the grocery store”

“Well you’re the better person Luke”

“Do you miss him?” Luke asked quickly

“Sometimes” Michael wouldn’t look at Luke feeling bad that he did miss him “Do you miss Ashton?”

“Yeah” Luke answered without thinking twice “I Miss my Ashy boo” that had Michael laughing and then sitting all the way up

“Do you wanna go swimming?”

“Well that depends” Luke rose an eyebrow at him “Are we going to be eaten by sharks if we do?”

“No” Michael said casually as he shook his head “I’ll protect you” even though the whole conversation was slightly humorous Luke knew Michael meant those last words with every bit of his heart and it had Luke unable to get the smile off his face

“Then I’m in” Michael stood up then reached his hands down and pulled Luke up and Luke couldn’t help but wrap his arms around him. Michael was then taking his hand and they were walking down the cliff.

“What great timing!”Luke and Michael were both whipping their head up to see where the voice was coming from and they watched as Calum and Ashton were getting out of the car. Luke instantly noticed how close they were walking as they got closer “I knew you were taking him here” Ashton smiled wide showing his teeth and pointed at Michael. Luke was relieved to see a smile on Michael’s face. Luke shifted his attention to Calum who was looking at Michael then when he felt Luke’s eyes on him he was looking straight back at him, as shy smile creeping across his face. Luke gave Michael’s hand a squeeze, took a deep breath then was walking over towards them without hesitation knowing that if he did then he wouldn’t do it. Calum didn’t look confused, he looked downright scared but then Luke was standing right in front of him reaching a hand out. Calum widened his eyes but quickly took it giving it a firm shake.

“We’re good” Luke said confidently and he could feel Ashton smiling at him before he turned to see Michael looking just as happy as he started walking towards them “I just want us to all be okay. I want us to be friends”

“That’s what I want to” Calum spoke softly then he looked at Michael who was now standing next to Luke.

“Group hug?” Ashton said in a child like voice that had everyone laughing then Michael was wrapping one arm around Luke then putting his other around Ashton as Ashton pulled Calum in too.

“Now let’s go swimming!” Michael shouted as they all took off running towards the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED IT. Sorry for the long wait on an update but I just really wanted to make this chapter good and I really love this fic so I hope you guys do too! Thank you so much if you stuck around to read the whole thing <3 Follow me on Tumblr if you want: http://clifford-affliction.tumblr.com/


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